England's last barrel making apprentice on how he plans to keep the tradition alive
The only barrel-making apprentice left in England hopes to keep the 700-year-old tradition alive – amid fears it could die out. Joseph Dunlop, 20, began a four-year traineeship last November to become a ‘cooper’, the name given to a craftsman skilled in creating wooden kegs by hand. But he admitted feeling a ‘weight on his shoulders’ as there are just five professionals left in the country - and he is now the only person in the running to succeed them.
