The story behind the Crochta hanging pan
This is the story of a pan, a special pan.
It’s a combination of development and tradition, of human interest, a journey and a drawing board.
Harry travelled across country from Norfolk to Shropshire in search of someone who could make him a pan, just like the one his grandmother had. Something that perhaps he could hand down to his grandchildren one day. A pan with a sense of history and its own history, with a story to tell. He didn’t know where his grandmother’s pan had come from, he just knew he wanted one the same. With a cup of tea in hand, Harry described the pan, while Neil made sketches; features, dimensions and materials were discussed and debated.
And just as Harry knew little of the provenance of his family’s pan, it is hard to find any definitive history of these pans on the internet. A social media enquiry resulted in anecdotal evidence and stories of their being used in Norfolk, of their use in so-called blackhouses in the Hebrides as well as Devon, Ireland and as far afield as Hungary. Inspired and intrigued, we set about making Harry’s pans and then asked $64,000 question, does anyone else want one?
With a resoundingly positive response, we got to work. But the pressing question was, “what are we going to call it?” Like the prospector pan before it, this cried out for a worthy name, something a little more romantic than the somewhat prosaic “hanging pan”. With no true or verifiable history, we couldn’t fall back on traditional names. A little imagination was needed; “Crochta” is the Irish word for hanging and the name we have chosen for these pans. We hope you’ll agree, that unless you are an Irish speaker, this is infinitely better than a plain old hanging pan.
July 2019.
Click the links below to choose one of these hanging pans.
8" (20cm) Crochta Pan
10" (20cm) Crochta Pan
12" (20cm) Crochta Pan
14" (20cm) Crochta Pan
