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Wednesday, 6 February 2013

Lydia's Woolly Wednesday - A Puzzle for You



Firstly, apologies for January, Woolly Wednesday completely slipped my mind, what with being out of routine. Now I'm back and I have a question for you. Last summer I went to Hereford. In Hereford I visited The Old House, which dates back to 1621. 
I was tempted to hop in that rubbish truck and drive it out of picture but I didn't want to spend the rest of my holiday in a police cell


The house is furnished as it might have been in Jacobean times. Upstairs I discovered a Welsh Great Wheel:



The first thing I noticed about this wheel was the tilt. I have only had a few attempts at spinning on a great wheel, the one I used was a replica and the wheel sat vertically, with no tilt. Every time I've used a great wheel, I stood with my right shoulder to the wheel. I have heard great wheels can be built with the wheel tilted but I thought the wheel was supposed to slope away from the spinner.

Can anyone explain why this wheel would appear to slope towards the spinner? Could it possibly be a wheel for a left handed person? As a left hander myself I was very excited to think this wheel may have been made for a long gone left handed spinner but there may be some other explanation. Do share your views!