Hello followers! No, that just sounds odd, like I have a messiah complex, subscribers perhaps? That also seems a bit weird, a bit formal and unfriendly. Hello friends (eww, that just sounds cringey). Anyway hello/greetings/wagwan fam and welcome to the latest from the carving studio.

We’ve been all over the place, as usual, after installing the slate memorial in Sunderland (see here) I have been busy designing and carving, and we have been working on various pieces, and installing work locally, in London and Northern Ireland;

Memorial to Freddie Miles, St James’s Church, Spanish Place, Marylebone

A bit about Freddie; “In 1966 Fr Fred was appointed Private Secretary to the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal John Heenan and then to Cardinal Basil Hume. He described both men as ‘hugely inspirational’. He had a particular connection with Cardinal Heenan – both came from Irish stock and shared the same sense of humour. His next appointment was to St James’, Spanish Place as rector from 1977 to 1998. These 21 years were the happiest years of his life, he told friends. His rapport with parishioners brought Fr Miles much satisfaction, and the parishioners’ lives were enriched by Fr Fred’s ministry. In 1969 he was appointed Chaplain to His holiness with the title Monsignor, and appointed Protonotary Apostolic in 2002. When he retired from Spanish Place at the age of 73, due to failing eyesight, Mgr Miles went to live at St Peter’s Residence in Vauxhall, run by the Little Sisters of the Poor.” taken from the obituary on the Westminster Diocese website.

The stone above is Hopton Wood limestone from Derbyshire which is a hard limestone and perfect for this commission as the plaque is quite small and the stone is very tight-grained and ideal for achieving a good finish on smaller lettering. Hopton Wood stone is used a lot by carvers and sculptors, and is often found in churches and cathedrals. In fact the building itself has used Hopton Wood for the walls and masonry, and the pillars are also sedimentary limestone from Derbyshire, but darker (probably Mandale/Sheldon/Swaledale). These stones are full of fossils if you look closely. St James’s is worth a look, and in a previous blog I showed some of the amazing carving there.

Then Dan and had a trip over to Northern Ireland……………..

……….to install a Woodkirk stone memorial near Larne. Woodkirk stone is a tight grained sandstone from near Dewsbury, Yorkshire. The clients were keen to have a slightly darker stone than the usual (plainer) buff stone that’s used for memorial work. This stone has some beautiful markings in it, almost like wood grain. We decided not to paint the lettering on this stone, which we often do to help with legibility. The stone is quite large and the lettering was big enough to carve VERY DEEP, and this depth creates strong shadows, and hence legibility. Straight off the ferry (it was an overnight crossing) we were treated to a wonderful ‘full Irish’ breakfast by our wonderful host Hilary, featuring their own eggs, soda bread and potato cakes, which helped to set us up for the digging (thanks to Robert for his help).

Other work in the workshop;

Woodkirk stone tomb

this is destined for a churchyard near Kimberley Hall, Norfolk

this tomb weighs around 750kg, so it’s quite a thing to be moving around the place! We hope to be installing this in early May.

Norfolk Amnesty International touchstone

I finished carving this hefty slab of Forest of Dean sandstone this week.

This has been commissioned by contributions from residents of North Norfolk. The stone will be placed in Wiveton, Norfolk, where anyone passing can pause and reflect. The stone will commemorate people with deeply held beliefs about human rights, it will be a monument to those who have stood firm and faced imprisonment, torture and death. One member of the Norfolk Amnesty International group offered these words;

“The silent stone still stands and keeps its vigil down the years, bears witness to the passing footsteps, speaks of those hopes and fears and in the falling drops of rain, reflects the fall of tortured tears.

     It stands to bring to mind what can be done when we are kind, when letters sent let others know that they are not alone and how, to those in power, words portray that WE know and won’t go away. That like the stone we’re standing still and still the letters say the candle-light shines both night and day.”