Knapping supplies in England - Can anyone help?

[mikekeswick]

As the title says I was wondering if any of you know of anybody who supplies knappable stone in England? Or even anybody who sells it that would be willing to send it to England. I live in the north of England where there is no flint, the closest is at a place called Bridlington supposedly but i've had a few trips over and apart from some small pieces on the beach there i've drawn a blank.
I've heard that people get flint from the chalk quarries down south but it's a long trip for me unless I know that there will be useable stone at the end of it hence why i'm looking to buy some.
Any help greatly appreciated.

[mikekeswick]

Actually after a bit of searching it would seem that ryholite is knappable. I live near to the Lake District  and I am a climber so know all the crags there and quite a few of them are ryholite....there is any amount of stone there!
So a new question! How is ryholite to knapp? Anything I need to know? Does it need heat treating? Are all ryholites created equal?! Just so I don't go dragging back loads of stone that is no good! How do you guys assess your stone when you find it?

[stickbender]

     When I was in Bognor Regis, in 1990, I was hoping to find some, and Found some nice pieces of dark blue, and black flint in the flower box!  Then when I went to the pier on the beach, I was shocked!  The whole beach was nothing cobbles of flint!  Good luck.  I would think a question in the local news paper would get you some info. 
Merry Christmas.

                                                    Wayne

[Parnell]

My family has a home in London, they've gone on vacation and brought home knappable flint.  It's around.  Let me look into where...Merry Christmas!

[caveman2533]

some source info:

http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/reply/417459/Flint-in-England#reply-417459

[AncientArcher76]

Rhyolite can be tough and not the easiest stone to work if you don't have much experience.  But, if you have a source near by then use it!  It can have various grades in it and may have weathering, freeze cracks, seams, etc... the best bet for you would be to test some pieces bring a big hammer and prepare to bust some rock!  You may have to break some old layers to expose some new and fresh layers.  Some other ideas for knappable rock is check for quartzite, glass, toilet tank, ebay, Neolithics.com, facebook, and type in web browser buy flint knapping supplies,  I know in the UK that there are several sources and the flint that is in the south can be shipped to u with no worries.  Oh if you are at a stone source keep eyes open for artifacts of any and all stone tools, flakes, and debitage...its possible that stone age tribes may have used the source thousands of years ago.  That would be cool to discover!  If you need any more help or ideas let me know?  I have plenty more... oh before I forget... You can try looking into rock formations, geology clubs, gun flint makers for black powder gun, and plain old networking.. you my find that there are other flint knappers near by...


Cheers,
Russ

[mikekeswick]

Thanks for the replies fellas.
I haven't had a chance to go and get some ryholite yet...but soon.
I've also found out that flint is available in Yorkshire so i'll be following that one up.
Unfortunatly i've only got a few flakes left now... so i'd better get sorted out 

[_Jon_]

Glass works well also.

[mikekeswick]

Glass works well also.

Yeah I learnt with glass but it's not really much of a challenge once you know what you are oing and it's almost pure silica = not good for you over time to be breathing that stuff in.