LAST week's mystery object was an interesting one.

It was a wooden plough plane, used to cut grooves into blocks of wood rather than to flatten or smooth the wood.

And it brought several guesses.

Michael Rooze, from Grassington, suggested that the plane would have been used to cut rebates in skirting boards and windows.

"My late father-in-law had several of these planes which he inherited from his own father who was a joiner or carpenter near Bolton," he added.

There was also a detailed explanation from Phil Dore, of Kirkby Malham.

He said: "What you have is a rebate woodworking plane. It has a narrow blade suitable for creating, for example, narrow grooves in wood which would accommodate such things a sliding cupboard doors and the like.

"I have one of these planes at home, almost identical to the one in the Herald. It was made by Varville and Sons, Ebor Works, York. In itself it is a very fine piece of work."

Other correct guesses came from Ron Gallagher, of Hellifield, Diane Haggar, of Skipton, Keith Coates, of Embsay, Phyllis Capstick, of Hellifield, Martin Robinson and Molly Preston, of Austwick.

The plane featured was made by Alex Mathieson & Son, which was founded in the 1800s in Glasgow. By the 1850s, it was one of the most prolific plane makers in Britain. However by the end of World War Two, the demand for wooden planes had dropped significantly and the company was eventually bought by Record Ridgway Tools Ltd and moved to Sheffield.

Guesses about this week's Curiosity should be emailed to news@cravenherald.co.uk. Meanwhile all items featured in this column can be viewed at Craven Museum and Gallery.

A couple of weeks ago, we featured some plastic cones, which, it appears, were incorrectly identified as dying cones. Now, following the intervention of a reader, the museum has reclassified them as cones used for storing thread.