Ancient tools but sublime results

Have just returned home having spent a very pleasant few days in the beautiful Cotswold village of Chipping Campden. One of the highlights for me was a visit to an old silk mill in the medieval centre of the village.

Climbing stairs to an upper floor led me to a silver smiths workshop straight out of the 18th century. I was told that this was the last remaining working shop of its type in the UK. Only Birmingham has something similar existing as a museum only.

The last photo shows bundles of blackened paper hanging from the roof - these are commission requests dating back to the second world war.

More on the mill here:

http://cotswold.newmindmedia.com/attractions/the-guild-craft-workshops-and-gallery-p797033

Fascinating .

Crikes! Well I thought my place got in a mess at times but now I can see I'm only a beginner!

Excellent photos Rik ... Thanks for sharing a little of your joyous experience.

MichaelG.

Well I never - the very place where I did my apprenticeship back in the early 1960s.

And it has not changed a bit.

Cheers, Tim

Tim, tell Us more.

The Guild of Handicraft (which included many trades in the Arts & Crafts tradition) moved to Campden in the early 1900s. Gradually as the workers retired, etc, the trades diminished or changed, and by 1960 there was only an active builder's and the silversmiths continuing. There was Geoge Hart (about 80 by then) - an original from day one, and Harry Warmington (who served in the trenches, George's son Henry, and his son David. I joined them in about 1962 at £5 a week. Yes, a week.

Their main trade was with the churches - making processional silver, altar ware (chalices, etc) - all individual commissions - often to celebrate a relative being ordained, that sort of thing. In a cupboard in one corner I found a cache of motorcycle magazines from the 1930s, and I learnt a lot from them, too. Enough to go on from there via Lockheed to BSA, Norton, Hesketh, etc.

And next week I will be making a pair of wedding rings in my garage ... So, it was useful after all.

Cheers, Tim

Tim - Hope your memories are nice ones, are you making your wedding rings in silver? Who will be wearing them? Can we see photos of them when they are finished?

I missed some pics in my OP, here they are:

The rack like machine used for drawing and resizing silver:

and the dies used with it:

and what appeared to be the senior artisan working here:

Not silver, but gold, the proper stuff. And the casting will be done how, do you ask? Well, some of it comes from a pet shop. Any ideas?

Tim

How about cuttlefish?

Rik

Yes, indeed, Rik

I am surprised that I have seen no mention of this process for making things like handwheels in brass. Once a pattern is made, it is a doddle to press it into the cuttlefish halves, pin them, pull them apart and remove the pattern.

Cheers, Tim

As a through and through Brummy I didn't think that comment about B'ham was correct. Out of curiosity I googles birmingham uk silversmiths and 7 popped up all in the jewelry quarter on the map. There will be more around. A cousin married one and as far as I know he is still happily in business. Pure hand work.

There is a museum of sorts there but what has happened over the years is that the jewelers who also had a shop where people could go and discuss their wants, design, quality etc have all gone. There are a number of shops selling jewelry. The trade supplier people are still there and I understand that there are still jewelers at work but people want lower prices as usual and aren't prepared to pay for what are often jeweler specific designs even with top quality stones if some one want that sort of thing. Crazy really as prices were often well under what would have to be paid at the usual hight street stores.

Talking to some one in London recently the same sort of thing has even happened down there.

John

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