Cooper and Sons has dominated the art of stick making for generations and are now the world's leading manufacturer of fine quality walking sticks, selling throughout the United Kingdom and in over 30 countries around the world.
The company is situated in the Surrey countryside, in the village of Wormley - a site favoured 140 years ago because of the suitability of soil and conditions for growing wood for sticks.
The woods: The local Surrey/Sussex countryside is ideal for the growing of chestnut and most other underwoods. A large proportion of wood used for a Cooper stick comes from the estates of Lord Cowdray in Sussex. Wiltshire, with its chalkier soil is ideal for the supply of Ash, whereas Applewood is harvested in the Weald of Kent, often from orchards, where excellent stick material growsas 'suckers' from the main trunk. After cutting , most woods are then normally seasoned for two years or more at the factory before being turned into a finished product. As demand therefore has to be predicted some years in advance and nature dictates the availability of wood in any one year. It is often difficult to forecast whether particular lengths or diameters will be continually available.
Energy efficient manufacturing: As soon as the cut wood lengths are delivered from the woods, they are loaded into large, water-filled copper vats which are boiled by open fires, fuelled by waste wood from the manufacturing process. This boiling ensures that the raw wood is free from sap and infestation, and also loosens the bark for the peeling process. The Peeled lengths are then pre-graded into various sizes and left to season in ventilated brick sheds for periods of up to two years. Following seasoning, sticks are then sent to the kiln room where they are steamed to raise their moisture content and to improve pliability. An experienced eye tells when they are ready to come out of the steamer and be worked. First, the handle is forced into a crook and tied to prevent it returning to its natural shape. The shank is then straightened on a solid elm, wooden-horse, a skill which is said to take seven years to master. Cooks are left hanging overnight on heated pipes and the shape of the crook becomes permanent as the stick dries out. The sticks are then ready for a number of hand finishing operations" de-knotting, rattanning, lathing, sanding and filing, staining, scorching, lacquering, polishing, nosing, lopping and sawing to length.
