Skills Collection

Training Ship Mercury and boys racing crew, River Hamble
The racing crew of the training ship Mercury with the ship itself in the background

Hockey - Footwork, Dribbling and Passing demonstrated. Date: circa 1910s

Workshop of a carpenter and joiner
The workshop of a carpenter and joiner, with various activities taking place

Various shoemaking tools
Various tools used by a shoemaker or cobbler, including scissors, pliers, hammers, a skewer, a ruler and strong thread

Fencing positions
Page demonstrating the various positions adopted during fencing. Date: 1930

Womens Institute activities during the First World War, making jam and wicker baskets to help with the war effort. 1915

Workshop of a cooper (barrel maker)
The workshop of a cooper or barrel maker, with examples of the finished product out in the street

Boys Swimming, Training Ship Mercury, River Hamble, Hants
Boys from the Training Ship Mercury swimming nude in the River Hamble

Leather making and tannery tools
Various tools used in tannery and leather making, including a knife, pincers and a hook

Various butchery tools
Tools used in butchery, including a mallet, a chopper, an axe, and various knives and cleavers

Met Police cadets giving a display
A group of Metropolitan Police cadets in sports gear, giving a display of their athletic skills. Seven poles are held in place so that seven cadets can climb up and sit at the top

Training Ship Mercury, River Hamble, Hampshire
The Training Ship Mercury was established in 1885 by the London philanthropist Charles Hoare

More Golfing Notes, by William Heath Robinson
Some suggestions for the novice. Illustrations showing various devices to assist golfing skills

NFS firefighters at assault course training camp, WW2
With a dramatic reduction in enemy attacks on London after the Blitz (1940-41) firemen and firewomen had to be kept gainfully employed and a high level of fitness and preparedness maintained

NFS firefighter at a training camp, WW2
With a dramatic reduction in enemy attacks on London after the Blitz (1940-41) firemen and firewomen had to be kept gainfully employed and a high level of fitness and preparedness maintained

The Brigantine " Steadfast" - a companion vessel to the Metropolitan Asylums Board Training Ship " Exmouth"

Workshop of a saddler and upholsterer
The workshop of a saddler and upholsterer, with finished items including trunks, bags and a chair (top right)

Training Ship Exmouth, full crew
Full group photo of the crew of the Training Ship Exmouth

Poster advertising Pollards Storefitters, showing workmen busy with their carpentry. 20th century

Training Ship Exmouth, dumb bell drill
Uniformed boys on the deck of the Training Ship Exmouth perform dumb bell drill

Training Ship Exmouth
The Training Ship Exmouth, operated from 1876 by the Metropolitan Asylums Board on the River Thames off Grays, Essex

Boys Band, Training Ship Indefatigable
The Boys Band of the Training Ship Indefatigable pose for their photograph in a field, near a tent -- probably at a local fete where they were performing

Builders at work in the foreground, with partially completed buildings in the background

Range of bakery tools and ingredients
A range of bakery tools and ingredients, including a pair of scales, a bucket, a sieve, mixing paddles and a sack of flour

Jasper Maskelyne
JASPER MASKELYNE English stage magician who used his skills of illusion in the Middle East during World War Two

Advertisement, James Figg, sword fighting, boxing
Advertisement for the services of the champion boxer James Figg - teaching gentlemen the use of the small backsword and quarterstaff, at home and abroad

Woman police officer in self-defence exercise
Woman police officer (Moya Wood-Heath) taking part in a self-defence demonstration exercise at an outdoor event, watched by spectators. Date: circa early 1970s

Two young riders, Cloutsham Farm, Exmoor, Devon
Two young riders at Cloutsham Farm, Exmoor, Devon, practising their horseback skills and watching the Devon and Somerset Hunt in the distance. Date: 1926

Young Native American Indian boy learning to shoot his bow and arrow - USA. Date: circa 1950s

Official wording, Apprenticeship Indenture
Official wording of an Apprenticeship Indenture, between John Henry Watson of 3 Newland Street, Derby, and Messrs John Davis & Son (Derby) Limited

Salvation Army elevator
Men at work sorting waste paper in a Salvation Army Elevator

Training Ship Warspite, Greenhithe, Kent
The Training Ship Warspite at anchor on the River Thames at Greenhithe, Kent. The Warspite, established by the Marine Society in 1876, was originally moored at Woolwich

Odin and Gunnlod
Odin (Wodan) acquires the skills of poetry by seducing Gunnlod, daughter of Suttung, guardian of the mead of poetry

Training Ship Formidable, Portishead, Bristol
The Training Ship Formidable, moored in the Bristol Channel at Portishead, was established in 1869 as an Industrial Training establishment

Front cover, Apprenticeship Indenture
Front cover of an Apprenticeship Indenture, between John Henry Watson and Messrs John Davis & Son (Derby) Limited. (1 of 2) Date: 3 January 1902

Laundry at Shirley Schools, near Croydon, Surrey
Inmates ironing clothes and linen in the laundry at the Shirley Schools, near Croydon, Surrey, established in 1904 by the St Olave Union to house pauper children away from the workhouse

Pitmans School, Southampton Row, London - School Building of the famous Secretarial School, teaching secretarial skills such as shorthand and typing

Training Ship Southampton, Hull, Yorkshire
The Southampton Industrial Training Ship was established on the Humber, at Hull, in 1868

Band Advertisement, Training Ship Wellesley, North Shields
Advertisement offering the services of the Band of the Training Ship Wellesley, on the River Tyne at North Shields, Northumberland

Carpentry & plumbing, Training Ship Wellesley, North Shields
Boys learning carpentry and plumbing on the Training Ship Wellesley, on the River Tyne at North Shields, Northumberland

Laundry at National Childrens Home, Harpenden, Herts
Girls iron and fold clean washing in the laundry at the National Childrens Home, Harpenden, Hertfordshire

Jesus as a boy, carrying a plank of wood
Jesus as a boy, carrying a wooden plank through the streets of Nazareth

Police Gun School, North London
Inspector Robert Gould gives instruction to a group of trainees at the police underground shooting range in North London. Date: 1960s

Training Ship Wellesley, North Shields, Northumberland
The Training Ship Wellesley, on the River Tyne at North Shields, Northumberland

Domestic sewing machine. Bride and groom. Date c1882

Training Ship Indefatigable, New Ferry, Cheshire
The Training Ship Indefatigable, moored on the River Mersey, off New Ferry, Cheshire, was established in 1865 to receive the sons and orphans of sailors, and other poor and destitute boys

Training Ship Mars, Woodhaven, Fife, Scotland
The Training Ship Mars, moored off Woodhaven on the River Tay at Fife, Scotland, was founded in 1869 as an Industrial Training establishment

An early typing pool
From the start, typing was perceived as the archetypal employment opportunity for women : this is the Typing Office of the Society for the Employment of Women

Sport / Football / Guyana
Native Guyanese Indians play a regional variant of football, reliant it appears on keeping the ball in the air using clever ball skills

Horsemen 3 - Thessalonia
THESSALONIANS : renowned for their horse-breeding and their equestrian skills, these people of eastern Greece are depicted here defending their country against the Romans

A specimen of Honiton lace - illustration accompanying an article on the decline of the lace making industry in Devon. Date: 1892

Weaving cotton with a hand loom, Japan, early 1900s. Date: early 1900s

Ghent (Gand), Belgium - Statue of / Monument to Lievin Bauwens (by sculptor Pieter De Vigne)
Ghent (Gand), Belgium - Statue of/Monument to Lievin Bauwens (by sculptor Pieter De Vigne) in the Lieven Bauwensplein Square

Vietnamese Patriotic Poster - Production and Combat
Vietnamese Patriotic Poster - Excellence in Production as well as excellence in combat Date: circa mid-1970s

Royal Tournament Rehearsal
Life Guards rehearsing a display of bare-back horse-jumping for the Royal Tournament, to be held at Olympia the following week. Date: 1932

Minnie Thompson, Dallas cowgirl in New York
Minnie Thompson from Dallas, Texas, performs horse riding feats outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Central Park, New York. She had won many prizes as a trainer of unbroken horses. Date: 1910

J. A. Gibbs National Children's Home (NCH), Penarth, Glamorg
Boys learning nautical skills at the J.A. Gibbs branch of the National Children's Home at Penarth

Woodwork classroom for boys who continued their education at Acland County Council School, Kentish Town, London. Date: 1906

Prepare for the Holidays by William Heath Robinson
A man learning how to swim without water by correspondence from a college by letter. Date: 1919

DR A R MANBY Physician to the duke of Clarence, whose skills were sadly insufficient to preserve his royal patient from an early death. Date: 1892

Comic postcard, Scene at secretarial college Date: 20th century

Marylebone School
The St Marylebone School began as the Marylebone Day School of Industry, founded in 1791 in what was then Paradise Street, now Moxon Street, to educate the children of the poor in the parish

Mounted Display of the Army School of Equitation
Mounted Display at the Royal Tournament by The Army School of Equitation (based at Weedon Bec, Daventry, Northamptonshire, England). Date: circa 1910s

Tools used in roof thatching, West Country, UK
Tools used in roof thatching in the West Country, UK. Date: circa 1960s

George Stephenson at Darlington - embroidery
Engraving of a painting by A

Fish-catching cormorants at the Hippodrome
Four cormorants, brought from China to appear at the London Hippodrome in 1905

Ruysselede Reformatory, Belgium - Gymnastics class
An exercise or gymnastics class at the Ruysselede Reformatory School, Belgium. The sailing ship at the rear provided training in nautical skills. Date: Date unknown

Embroidering King Edward VIIs Coronation Robes
Needlewomen embroidering King Edward VIIs coronation robes at the Royal School of Art Needlework. 1902

Cover design, Chester School of Art Prospectus, Grosvenor Museum, 1914

Young man thatching a roof, Lamorna Cove, Cornwall
Young man thatching a roof, Lamorna Cove, Penwith, Cornwall. circa 1960s

Two men thatching a roof, Lamorna Cove, Cornwall
Two young men thatching a roof, Lamorna Cove, Penwith, Cornwall. Date: circa 1960s

Pueblo Indian drilling turquoise, New Mexico, USA
Pueblo Indian drilling turquoise for the making of necklaces, New Mexico, USA. Date: circa 1920

Navajo Indian silversmith, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Navajo Indian silversmith at work, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Date: circa 1912

Navajo Indian workroom, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. They are spinning and dyeing wool, weaving blankets and making silver ornaments. Date: circa 1920

Drystone Walls of the North - First-class drystone walling beside the River at Langdale in the Lake District

Bantu craftsman of Douala, Cameroon, Central West Africa
Bantu craftsman of Douala (Duala) making wooden carvings, Cameroon, Central West Africa (at the time a French colony). Date: 1922

Elderly woman with distaff and spindle, Auvergne, France
Elderly woman with distaff and spindle, Auvergne, Central France. 1922

Woman at a spinning wheel, Dinan, Brittany, Northern France
Woman at a spinning wheel near Dinan, Brittany, Northern France. 1922

Man making wooden shoes, Brittany, Northern France
Man making wooden shoes (sabots) in his workshop, Brittany, Northern France. Each shoe is carved from a single piece of wood. Date: 1922

Man making pottery, Quimper, Brittany, Northern France
Man making pottery (Breton Faience) at Quimper, Brittany, Northern France. Date: 1922

Araucanian woman weaving, Chile, South America
An Araucanian woman weaving cloth used to make ponchos, southern Chile, South America. Araucania (Araucana) is an indigenous area of Chile inhabited by the Moluche (Mapuche) people. Date: 1922

Italian Lacemakers - Santa Margherita Ligure, Liguria, Italy. Date: circa 1910s

Armenian carpet manufactory, Eastern Kurdistan. Date: 1922

Army recruits at Lincoln Racecourse, WW1
Kitcheners army - recruits at Lincoln Racecourse, being taught to use rifles, 4 September 1914, First World War. 1914

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