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Peat Cutting

Peat Cutting in the area

Traditionally peat has been used for warmth and cooking for hundreds of years.

Click on the each image to view its original size:

There are three main tools used to do this. The first tool to be used is the flaughter spade which is used to cut away the fibrous, mossy top to the peat bank.
flaughter
Flaughter

Once the top layer has been removed, cuts are made along the bank using the rutter, this determines the thickness of the peat to be cut.
rutter
Rutter

Lastly the tusker was put into action. The person using this tool would bear down with all his weight to actually cut the peat, he would then twist the tool to remove it from the bank and allow the thrower to throw the peat back onto the top of the bank for stacking and drying.
tusker
Tusker

The peats were left where they were thrown for a few days until they were dry enough not to flop over, then they would be stacked into rows and left to dry for 3 or 4 weeks. The rows of drying peats are known as storrows and when the weather was particularly bad for drying they would be remade into astorrows which were larger than storrows.
Peat Field
Peat Field

Peat Stack
Peat Stack

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