Socks on the run ...

Back in the day when men wore woollen socks and women darned them, sock stretchers were used to dry woollen socks so they didn't shrink. These particular ones were made by my maternal grandfather, found them in among Dad's stuff. I remember as a child having to stretch the smelly wet wool, possibly still with a faint whiff of hen droppings from our allotment - that lime-y smell is hell to get rid of.

I have seen stretchers like this in folk museums, so other people also used them as well as my family, unless Granddad got around more than we knew:)