Category: Personal Reflections
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The Abraham Lincoln Room at The Savoy is a space defined by layers of history. While many recognise it for its Edwardian elegance today, I have a different connection to its walls. In the late 1980s, I was part of the team that fitted the St John’s travertine cladding, a material that defined the room’s…
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In the landscape of a life spent in service to great architecture, certain years stand out as thresholds. For me, that year was 1987. I began my tenure at 2-8a Rutland Gate with the master stonemasons of Szerelmey, ensuring the exterior held the timeless elegance required of a Knightsbridge landmark. However, my role soon evolved…
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In the early 1990s, my career as a carver was defined by a transition between two of the most prestigious estates in England. I had just completed a significant period of work at Woburn Abbey, serving the Duke of Bedford. Woburn was a masterclass in scale; the seat of the Russell family demanded a masonry…
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My grandad was, for all intents and purposes, my dad. A proud Lancastrian with a formidable work ethic, he was a man of quiet discipline. Having served as a Grenadier Guardsman during the war, he carried that military precision with him for the rest of his life. He did not drink or gamble; his only…
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In my previous reflection, I spoke of the Parisian masons who dismantled the Bastille with a sense of purposeful liberation. Yet, the history of the “common cause” has a darker side. There are moments when the discipline of the craft is lost to the fever of the crowd, and I learned this most vividly on…
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The Artisan’s Professional Veil In the early years of an apprenticeship, a craftsman’s world is narrow. Working under the banner of established firms like Drings of Bath and Szerelmey , one was rarely privy to the names or reputations of the clients. We were there to serve the building, not the biography of its owner.…
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There are certain journeys that remain etched in the mind, not merely for the destination, but for the manner in which one arrives. In 1986, my path to the ancient wonders of Alexandria began on the waters, departing from the small port of Keramoti. To approach Egypt by sea is to witness the horizon slowly…
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In the tradition of the traveling Court Masters of the Renaissance, my career has been defined by a nomadic devotion to stone. To understand the soul of a cathedral or the strength of a fortress, one must not only touch the stone but walk the land from which it sprang. The Alpine Descent My journey…