I spent yesterday filming with the BBC in the workshop and turning a nice nest of bowls. Stopped on way home and dropped them in a clump of heather, I love to see it in flower. The beeb are doing a series on Heritage at Risk and it sounds like it will be a good mix of old buildings and…
As the London riots were kicking off last week most commentators were going on about lack of respect, broken Britain and the breakdown of moral values, the proposed solution is normally increased discipline by home and state. I was blogging about my take on it, that being that these folk were just doing what we had trained them to do.…
Just wanted to share these gorgeous films. HCA have been working closely with leaders of the UK luxury sector, we share a common belief in the value of craftsmanship and that given good promotion it has a very bright future. first mens tailoring just got sexy[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXKWC944Vjo] document case, I think it is the sound of the tools on leather that…
Let’s breed a generation and convince them that success is a new pair of trainers and a 50″ plasma tv, bring them up from age 2 to covet material goods and if you can achieve it without having to work hard so much the better, pop stardom, soccer stars, lottery winners this is what we train them to admire. Then…
Well I never knew that Tonbridge was famous for the making of cricket balls. This is a craft process involving a lot of hand skill. I had little idea what was inside a cricket ball, a lump of compressed cork, a tightly wound ball of string….this lovely old Pate news clip shows the process CRICKET BALLS In the 1960’s there…
Today I am cutting winter firewood in the Derbyshire hills, tomorrow I’ll be at Clarance House, home of HRH The Prince of Wales, Tuesday at Department of Culture Media and Sport DCMS all to support traditional crafts skills. First meeting at Clarance House is with Emily Cherrington. Emily is Assistant Private Secretary to The Prince of Wales. The Prince has…
Richmond dock was built at Appledore on the mouth of the River Torridge in 1856 and was said to have been the largest dry dock in all the Bristol Channel ports at that time. By the early nineteenth century much of the timber for shipbuilding in Britain was being imported from North America, the traditional supply from the Baltic Ports…
Last weekend I attended Art in Action a most wonderful show near Oxford. We were offered a free HCA stand after the organisers attended our spring conference at the V&A, we had the usual range of traditional craft items on display with voluntary staff telling visitors the stories behind how they were made. I also did a talk each day…
I wish I had been fast enough to buy one of these screen printed posters by Max Tempkin. I have written about craft and environmentalism beforeA jeweler working in the UK may appear relatively “environmentally friendly” but a single gold ring creates 20 tons of mill waste and the mining industry has been labeled as the single largest polluter in…
The Associate Parliamentary Manufacturing Group is being spearheaded by Vince Cable It has been designed to celebrate the UK’s manufacturing sector by asking MPs to nominate a product made in their constituency – with the ultimate aim of producing an ‘Great Exhibition’ showcasing these products. It would be really nice if some of those products were craft made items or…
