It is hard work but no medals needed the work is rewarding enough as it is. I get most reward from knowing there are a couple of thousand people out there eating off my plates and bowls every day, bringing a little pleasure into daily life.
Thanks for that, Nicola puts a lot of time into editing the video so you don't have to sit through the boring bits but still get the good stuff, I think she does a great job. Glad you enjoyed it.
This video brings a tear to my eye. George Lailey was my great uncle. He died when I was just a year old so I never knew him, but we had a bowl of his in the family for years - now sadly lost after a series of house moves. It is heartening to know that his memory is being kept alive thanks to Robin who has persevered and learned this ancient craft from scratch to make bowls equal those made by 3 generations of Laileys who would all have passed down all their skill and knowledge. Fantastic!
That's nice to hear. I have visited and set up on turner green several times over the years and met a lot of folk that used to visit, they all have nice memories.
I arrived here from Robert Penn's lovely book. Robin Wood is a proper, true craftsman; his skills translate across the centuries. No sterile machine lathe here with laser sights and purpose-designed bolt-on tools that anyone off the street could use - this is the real thing. Hand-forges his own tools! What a star, and an inspiration to everyone.
George Lailey was one of my Nan's second Cousins. His Uncle, Thomas Lailey (Brother of William) was my Nan's Great Grandad! There are a HUGE amount of Lailey's decending from the West Berkshire region and it's taken a LONG time for me to trace our tree back accurately!
My mum bought a couple of bowls off George (duly signed and dated, April 19th, 1955). Many years later she told me about the cycle ride she took to Bucklebury Common years before I was born. I'd read about George Lailey in H V Morton's 'In Search of England' while at school and so put two and two together and realised these two bowls were made by the very same man. I've seen plenty of bodging before but it was wonderful to find this film, to see - and most intriguingly - to hear the process more or less as it was in George's workshop.
It's a small world! HV Morton lived in South Africa, not fifty miles from where I grew up, in Somerset West. I _loved_ his book 'In The Steps of The Master' and I found the beautiful sepia photographs haunting and mystical. I believe he died about 1978, not sure.
SING TO THE TUNE OF ROBINHOOD....... Robin wood, robin wood keeps the past alive Robin Wood Robin Wood with his lathe and knives If George Lailey could He,d say your very good So be proud stand tall Carve out another ball You do inspire us all
Does it have more torque than a treddle lathe given the same input power? Can you shape something completely irregular in shape? Like an organic sculpture?
You can't _see_ the medals. Lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, kidneys, liver, pancreas and lungs in better shape and fewer psychological megrims!
He picked up a chunk of wood and, putting it to the lathe, worked a foot pedal and held a sharp bent knife to the rapidly revolving wood. With suprising speed he cut the outer shape of the bowl; then, taking a different knife, he cut out the inside as you might cut out the inside of a turnip. The bowl was roughly finished. - In Search of England
@@WoodToolsSheffield Same here! "But you will have guessed that I wished to hear for the second time the voice of the craftman, the lover of his job, the proud creator of beautiful, common things"!
Only it's not such a little cottage any more. One of the interesting things about being there was meeting the mix of new folks...air line pilots etc and old folk. And especially hearing the stories about how kids used to play on the common...sad that they don't any more.
That was interesting, More than that, but I dont have a word for it. I got a similar sensation when watching someone flint knapping. I have passed your workshop before on the way down from Kinder, Will say hello, if you are in next time
@@suecollins3246 Yours is by a wide margin the longest delayed reply to one of my comments. I was sitting in the sun a few weeks ago repairing a net I had had over a fruit bush. Felt the same reaction. There was a "rightness" about it . I felt connected with ancestors from centuries, indeed millennia ago who would have sat in the sun mending nets. Growing some veg in containers this year . Waiting for seeds to germinate, watering, hoping the slugs stay away. It feels "Right" I wonder if DNA does contain memories?. An intriguing suggestion.
To be honest it is hard work and it took a very long time to learn to do it well but once you can do it it is actually quite an efficient production method. Low overheads and minimal waste too.
Is this the same set up in the same place as a man that you are taking over from the died at the age of 89 is this all his equipment? And is it in the same location that he was in all those years that he was doing this?
