Tag Archives: heritage crafts

The Lady Mayor’s Craft Livery Apprentices

It was very exciting to be Co-Lead, along with Richard Hefford-Hobbs, FREng, of this initiative by the Lady Mayor of London, Dame Sue Langley, who wanted to focus on heritage crafts during her year of office (2025–6) – how inspired! A number of City Liveries have always supported passing on traditional craft skills in their Companies, others have recently, and more are beginning to appreciate the importance of doing this, especially with the biennial Heritage Crafts’ Red List of Endangered Crafts.

As a very first initiative, we weren’t expecting that many nominations, and were delighted to get 35 from 16 different Livery Companies. These were shortlisted to 17 and sent to the Assessors – Daniel Carpenter, Executive Director of Heritage Crafts, Dr Simon Sadinsky, Executive Director of The King’s Foundation, and Helen Welch, Founder and Chief Tutor at the London College of Furniture; I was Lead Assessor, and the Lady Mayor the Final Judge. With so many high quality nominations it was difficult to select the final twelve, but fortunately all were agreed so it made my job much easier!

The Awards Ceremony was held in the wonderful Old Ballroom at the Mansion House, and was a true celebration with the successful Lady Mayor’s Craft Livery Apprentices accompanied by their families and friends, their tutors, and for many the Master or Clerk of their Livery Company. Each Apprentice was presented with a certificate and a hand-engraved medallion which had their name and ‘The Lady Mayor’s Craft Apprentice one side and the City of London coat of arms the other. Here Isabel, a hand engraver herself is inspecting the engraving! It was a joyous occasion, with all never having been inside the Mansion House and certainly not to such an impressive room!

The winners were:

Kemi Ajose – Knitwear Designer and Textile Artist. Originally destined to be an athlete, Kemi discovered knit and knitwear independently with no family background in enterprise or the creative industries. She is self-driven and inspired to use textiles which allow her to explore identity through colour, pattern, and style inspired by West African textile traditions and contemporary British fashion. Kemi has also been a great support to the Haberdasher School students, sharing advice and delivering a workshop. Her clothes give the wearer the ability to express a hybrid identity. Sustainability is at the core of her design process. All of Kemi’s products are knitted using locally sourced deadstock yarns, everything is handmade and with zero-waste.

Maia Bashford – Chef. Even before being selected as a prestigious Lady Mayor’s Apprentice, Maia won the Trophy of the Worshipful Company of Cooks as well as Student of the Year. She was a semi-finalist in Torque D’or, the Rhubarb challenge, Skills for Chefs, and the League of Club Young Chef of the year, winning the Gravy Boat Trophy. She also recently was in the finals of the Robert Lindsay Trophy. Maia is a wonderful example of how an apprenticeship can take a dedicated professional to the top having gone through all sections in the kitchen giving her a base that will prove invaluable. She is the most skilled young chef – a female breaking down barriers.

Oluwamuyiwa Fadairo – Shoemaker. Olu’s enthusiasm is clear to everyone he meets and can be seen in all he has done. He has committed himself to this career and spent four years developing his skills before moving to work on his own as a piece-working maker last year. Olu has made great efforts to learn from master craftspeople and to learn from mistakes. He works tirelessly with longer hours than expected to hone his skills. During his apprenticeship Olu has mastered numerous techniques in handsewn shoemaking. He is now highly skilled in hand lasting, hand welting, hand stitching soles and building leather heels. Olu also learned bevel waist construction, storm welt construction, blind welt construction, fiddle waist construction and many other techniques.

Isabel Freeman – Hand Engraver. Isabel won the competition to design Goldsmiths’ new Apprentice of the Year medal in 2025, and her medal is currently being produced and will be awarded to Goldsmiths’ Apprentices for the next 10 years. Isabel’s effort, time and creativity in producing a design which met the brief so well made her the outright winner. In 2025 Isabel also won two awards for her engraving at the Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awards – silver for 3D Craft Engravers, Die Sinkers and Seal Engravers Junior, and The Podolsky Award for potential in the allied crafts. Her exemplary attitude and the fact that she constantly pushes herself means that she has continued to develop her skills.

Samuel Garfield – Gunmaker. Sam embodies all the qualities hoped for in a modern craft apprentice. He is skilled, dedicated, enthusiastic and a true team player within a demanding workshop environment. From bench work to customer interaction, Sam contributes positively to every aspect and his dedication goes far beyond what is normally expected of an apprentice. Nothing is too much trouble for him and he approaches each task with a positive attitude. His commitment to quality, his work ethic, and support to the overall success of the workshop is outstanding. Sam supports the business not only through his bench work but also through customer service as well as at events, showing a strong sense of responsibility and pride in the trade, making him an invaluable member of the team.

Joshua Hook – Goldsmithing (Mounting). Josh has entered a number of competitions producing new pieces each time. He has won awards including a silver medal at the World Skills National Competition in 2021, and silver in the Goldsmiths Craft and Design Council Awards for Diamond Mounting in 2023; gold in 2024; and gold again 2025; as well as this he was awarded silver in the 2D Design in 2021, and bronze in Chasing in 2024. Many of these entries have been completed in Josh’s own time demonstrating his continued efforts to improve his skills. His Masterpiece, a 1920s sterling silver drop necklace with a box catch and two pendants, one of which is detatchable, and including making each of the 30 identical links, has taken unwavering dedication.

Hayden Mackenzie – Upholsterer. Hayden actively contributes ideas, engages in discussion during team meetings and within the workshop, and he approaches new projects with excitement rather than reluctance. His sustained motivation and positive mindset to improve his skills, combined with his willingness to go the extra mile, enables him to remain solution-oriented and a problem solver. Hayden’s healthy respect for historical upholstery, keenly observed detail, workmanship, and reporting, so critical to conservation and restoration, has seen him work sympathetically on the Royal Collection’s upholstered furniture which stands to benefit. He has proven to be an excellent Apprentice and brings a new perspective to the Team.

Francesco Orlando – Distiller. Fran has a long-term goal, and to date has logged eight years in its pursuit. To realise this, he has devoted himself to learning and applying traditional, hands-on distilling practices, and also visiting other distilleries, and immersing himself in the distillers’ art. He has produced two standout works in his new innovation capacity; one of them in particular was a limited edition gin he named Orsino, after the Count in Shakespeare’s play ‘Twelfth Night’, which was created to pair with the chef’s menu. In this he balanced flavours of straw and porcini into a classic London Dry structure. Fran’s enthusiasm, his talent, his thirst for knowledge and his dedication to distillation will take him far.

Victor Perez-Alvarez – Watchmaker. Victor started by teaching himself the practical skills for basic watch servicing and practised on simple watches with only a few components. Over eighteen months, following the Clockmakers’ Company Advanced Apprenticeship Victor has learned to service complex watches with many interacting parts. Previously, he would have needed assistance with basic adjustments, but Victor can now routinely correct the distortion of balance springs and manufacture individual replacement watch parts, his excellent progress suggests he will become a very proficient watchmaker. Victor is also making excellent use of an outstanding opportunity to learn with an internationally renowned watchmaker.

Nikita Somma – Butcher. From the outset, Nikita demonstrated an exceptional attitude towards her training, her attendance was consistently high and her engage-ment in sessions was above and beyond. Nikita responds positively to feedback and learns quickly and effectively in both college and workplace settings. She was awarded Best Retail Butchery Apprentice for the Institute of Meat Annual Prize 2025, and Nikita won top prize for Best Innovative Lamb Product in the Battle Of The Butchers 2025 competition, as well as the Best Innovative Beef Product and the Golden Cleaver Award. She displays det-ermination, resilience and a strong work ethic which means she will go far.

Alysha Strong – Gem Setter. Alysha has entered competitions during each year of her apprenticeship consistently winning awards for her setting skills. At the Goldsmith Craft & Design Council Awards she achieved bronze in 2022; in 2023 gold; in 2024 gold again; and in 2025 silver. As well as this she was awarded the Theo Fennell Apprentice and Master Award in 2023. Alysha’s Masterpiece is a flower and butterfly double ring set with 703 stones including fancy orange diamonds, sapphires, tsavorite garnets, and smoky quartz. She continues to demonstrate her enthusiasm by planning to enter this in the competition in 2026. Alysha’s aim is to have her own fine jewellery business.

Gillian Turner – Bookbinder. Thanks to ‘Bound by Veterans’, Gilly overcame the daunting change that comes with leaving the military under a medical discharge. Bookbinding has given her a new passion and real direction in her life. Gilly served over 10 years in the Army in the Royal Logistic Corps where she specialised in Bomb Disposal but due to injury she was medically discharged. Gilly puts effort into all her work and is concerned with producing the best work that she can. Whilst working on her apprenticeship Gilly has followed a City & Guilds curriculum and spent time outside of working hours practising and re-making items for each module until she was happy that it was her best work.

The medallions were turned by Keiran Darnington of Cambridge Precision, and each one individually hand engraved by Karen Wallace. They were exquisite!

The certificates were designed and lettered by me, and I also designed the accompanying booklet for the Awards Ceremony:

Photographs kindly supplied by Thomas Kingsley, Lady Mayor’s Office.

Intangible Cultural Heritage and the UNESCO Convention

What links traditional craft skills with the Notting Hill Carnival, the Cornish language, the Norfolk rotation, Arbroath Smokies, sea shanties, and Plough Monday? They, and many, many more, are all part of the rich fabric of Intangible Cultural Heritage, or our living heritage, which make individual villages, towns, regions and counties distinctive and different and what they are. In many cases these are customs and traditions that have been carried on for centuries by ordinary people rather than any organisation or national society.

Cremona’s current oldest luthier, Hungary’s Stefano Conia, 74, and his son Stefano Jr, 47, are pictured with a violin at their workshop in Cremona. — AFP

These are recognised throughout the world as part of our Intangible Cultural Heritage (our living heritage), as distinct from our tangible cultural heritage. For the latter, they are essentially our buildings such as stately homes and castles, our landscapes, and our historical artefacts in museums and libraries – things that can be seen. For our living heritage, the craft skills and the traditions cannot actually be ‘seen’ in themselves, which is why they are ‘intangible’. Most countries are able to identify traditional crafts, such as violin making in Cremona, Italy, flamenco dancing in Spain, samurai sword making in Japan, and list them in a similar way to World Heritage Sites. They are significant to the individual communities and need to be supported.

Sadly, the UK is not able to do that. This country is one of only 12 out of 193 signed up to UNESCO that has not ratified the 2003 Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage. The UK was one of the world leaders in our tangible cultural heritage with the National Trust, Historic England and the listings of important and significant buildings in Grade I, II and so on. The British Museum and other museums and libraries have been in existence for centuries to ensure that our heritage objects are displayed, conserved and looked after for future generations. But what of our intangible cultural heritage, surely this is just as important? Sadly on that we are really far, far behind almost every other country in the world.

The UNESCO Convention identifies five different domains as part of our intangible cultural heritage:

Oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage;
Performing arts;
Social practices, rituals and festive events;
Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;
Traditional craftsmanship

And it is the latter particularly, and my interest in heritage crafts that mean that this post is being written.

And the lack of ratification is, simply, a lack of government will. The cost is $150,000 a year to sign up to the Convention, which would then give the UK a seat at the table, representing this country with such a rich living heritage; that seat is so badly needed post-Brexit. This is really nothing in terms of government spending, although, to be fair, there would be costs on top of that to ensure that the five domains were surveyed and plans in place for support. However Heritage Crafts surveying the sector with its regular issuing of the Red List of Endangered Crafts are already on the case, and their Endangered Crafts Fund and The President’s Award support the passing on of craft skills. This shows that it won’t cost a fortune to be done!

It would also mean, as said by Professor Tim Ingold of Aberdeen University: this is really about revitalising skills and practices that have the potential to be transformative for future generations. This is much bigger than Arbroath smokies and Stilton cheese. It is about placing values of care and custodianship, as well as respect for difference, at the heart of the ways we live.’

It would mean that, similar to the ways in which for the UK City of Culture, people get together to define what makes their city special, what they can do to produce a programme of cultural events that have a lasting legacy, each village, rural area, town, city, county and region could, as Professor Ingold states, place values of care and custodianship and a respect for difference on what they feel is important. In this fractured society, it could bring people together to identify and share their cultural heritage.

With seven different Secretaries of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport over the last five years Intangible Cultural Heritage has clearly not been a priority, but it would be fantastic if it was! Ratification would not be a panacea to everything but it would mean that it has a place in the department and our wonderful traditions would be surveyed and not simply regarded as not worth anything.

If you feel that this is important, and you have got to the end of this post, you can make a difference. Everyone living in the UK has an MP and, as their constituent, it is hoped that they would take on issues that concern you (they are after your vote in the end!). It is not difficult to write to them, you can do so here and it doesn’t need a proper letter sent by post, you can simply email them. Please use any of this post to make your point (I’m not worried at all about copyright here, just want to get that Convention ratified!), and ask them to contact the Secretary of State at DCMS to encourage her (Lucy Frazer as I write this, but who knows after a month or two??) to ratify the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage. Stress that the UK is one of only 12 countries out of 193 not to have done so, and let’s see if together we can make things happen!

Dumfries House, Ayrshire, Scotland

‘There’s nothing that isn’t positive that comes out of this place.’

Dumfries House near Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. is a unique place in many ways. The house was designed by Robert, John and James Adam, their first independent commission after the death of their father William. The building of the house was completed on budget and on time in 1759. It contains the most wonderful collection of original Chippendale and other furniture and is an amazing place to visit.

The whole estate and furniture was due to be sold when The Prince of Wales stepped in, reputedly arranging for the lorry carrying the precious furniture to be stopped on its way for the contents to be auctioned in London, and saving this unique house with its associated furniture which has an enviable provenance. However, being The Prince of Wales, this project didn’t end simply with saving a house and its contents. I was there to visit the estate and view the wonderful activities involving the whole community and while I was there I noticed that the stone on side of the house has very intriguing diagonal marks – mason’s marks or part of the design?

At the front of the house is a huge fountain and two formal mazes either side. I tried out the maze and as someone with no sense of direction, I was amazed (!) that I actually got to the middle, marked by a stone obelisk.

And just to prove it, here I am at the centre with the obelisk!

It is well-known that The Prince of Wales loves gardens so as you would expect they are wonderful – a mix of colours and textures and not really done justice by this photograph.

As I walked through the gardens close to the house, I was intrigued by this huge tree which looked most impressive against the azure blue sky (yes, this photo was taken on the day I was there; the sky really was this blue).

The bark of this tree was fascinating with its whirls and swirls and I wished I had time to sit and draw it.

However, it’s not just the house and formal gardens that are worth seeing. On the estate there are animals kept specifically to show children where their food comes from. And if Dumfries House is a building fit for a prince, the animal houses are certainly beautiful enough for The Prince’s farm animals! But the walled garden really was something else! There was a whole long border of HRH’s favourite flower – delphiniums. Again this photo really doesn’t do it justice.

But true to walled gardens, there were also beds of fruit and vegetables, again used to teach children about food but the produce also used in the café and catering training on the estate, and for the formal dinners given by The Prince of Wales.

Students from The Prince’s Drawing School were in residence when I was there, using the house and grounds as inspiration for their work. There are also great plans for a development to allow onsite training in building and living crafts. This will add to the training already being done in the Textile Centre. Training is given in sewing and machining skills, not now taught in the textile industry, and I was most impressed by what was produced. Here Ashleigh Douglas, head of the centre, shows a specially designed tartan.

And, as it’s Scotland, Graeme has been making kilts, and will be creating one of the above tartan after he has finished this one.

The facilities are most impressive.

However, what actually impressed me most of all was, as in the quote at the very top, the comprehensive positivity of Dumfries House and its activities. Every single person I spoke to, from the local taxi driver, to the waitress in the hotel, to those visiting the grounds and house, every single person said how important the estate was to the locality and how impressed they were with what The Prince had done. And in terms of the staff in the house itself, not one wasn’t welcoming, courteous and so kind. It truly felt like a privilege to be wandering through these beautiful grounds and touring a wonderful historical house. If you ever have the chance to visit yourself – do go, make a detour or even a special visit. You won’t regret it.

Disappearing fore-edge painting

In May 2017, the Heritage Crafts Association launched the Radcliffe Red List of Endangered Crafts at the House of Lords. They listed over 170 traditional crafts and placed them in one of four categories (Currently Viable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, and Insufficient Data). There were seventeen Critically Endangered Crafts of which Disappearing Fore-Edge Painting was one; this is where a book seems to have an ‘ordinary’ gilded or patterned fore-edge, but when the pages of the book are fanned, a painting is revealed as if by magic.

At the launch, Martin Frost, the remaining one disappearing fore-edge painter of which we are aware, demonstrated this craft, and all the images in this post are his. There’s more about Martin here. As I am posting this in Wimbledon month, the sequence of Martin’s painting of a tennis scene seems particularly appropriate. Here is the book as it looks normally with a gilded fore-edge.

The book is then carefully fanned and the pages held in a strong clamp. Martin starts the painting by creating the outline of the image.

More paint is added to build up the picture.

And finally, the image is finished, with a 1920s-style tennis player with a rather nifty backhand!

The Heritage Crafts Association were able to get a feature about the Radcliffe Red List of Endangered Crafts and Martin on the BBC TV’s The One Show. First he painted the fore-edge of a book for them showing the Brighton Pavilion.

And then, because the actor and comedian Ade Edmonson was being featured and interviewed on the same programme, they asked Martin to create a fore-edge especially for him which shows Ade as the character he played in The Young Ones, and also an image from a book he has written.

And, being Martin, he doesn’t just restrict his paintings to the fore-edge. That painting showing Columbus at the start of this post was only on the fore-edge. Here is the ‘head’ (top) of the book showing Columbus and native Americans, and there is a different scene painted on the ‘tail’ (bottom).

This is a craft that shows, as so many traditional crafts do, terrific skill, and one which we are in serious danger of losing. Please contact the Heritage Crafts Association for more information especially if you would like to support the work they do and contribute to ensuring that we don’t lose any more traditional crafts which are, after all, part of all of our shared heritage in the same way as heritage buildings and treasured landscapes.

Heritage crafts and a National Honour

A great day for heritage crafts – the first national honour was awarded today, and what a day that was!

We had been advised to get there early, and so we were, and queuing with Brian Rea, from Northern Ireland Policing, and his family, at one of the wonderful Buckingham Palace gates.

Fortunately it was a fantastic day. Last night there were gale force winds and horizontal heavy rain. If this is the weather tomorrow, I thought, my hat will be flying off my head and be completely ruined!

Once we had had our tickets and passports checked, we were led through the central archway of Buckingham Palace and into the building itself. Then we were directed to the cloakroom and loos – the latter quite extraordinary. Vast wooden seats covered a rather ancient loo, with a wooden ‘stirrup’ pull up handle instead of a chain or lever.

Then up an amazing gilded staircase, where guests/family went one way and recipients the other. We were led into the picture gallery, and once our names were checked, a hook was pinned to our jackets. This meant that when the medal was awarded, it was simply looped on to the hook.

The picture gallery was stunning – if only we could have just looked at the wonderful art – but there were so many interesting people to meet and find out why they were being awarded honours. They ranged from Pamela Goldberg who got hers for the Breast Cancer Campaign, Wing Commander Teresa Griffiths, who is doing sterling work at Birmingham Hospital with those who have been injured in conflicts, Christine Edwards for Higher Education, and our celebrity Adele (Adkins), the singer.

The awarding procedure was then explained to us – not too complicated – and we were then told to wait until our names were called. We were taken out in batches, through some wonderful rooms, and then led across the back of the huge ball room to a parallel corridor and were checked yet again at the entrance to the ballroom. One by one our names and awards were announced. Forwards, stop, curtsey/bow, forwards to The Prince of Wales, medal awarded, chat and then go. (picture on right is of the Duke of Cambridge presenting awards earlier this year). It was a thrilling moment, not least because, coincidentally, In Paradisum, from Fauré’s Requiem, one of my favourite pieces of music, was played by the orchestra just as I went forwards for my award.

The Prince of Wales, President of the Heritage Crafts Association, was charming, as indeed he was to everyone I spoke to afterwards. He was interested in what we were doing and very supportive. Once out of the ballroom, I did give a little jump of celebration, but then remembered that there were video cameras everywhere (you could buy a film of your own presentation) and hoped they didn’t catch that rather non-MBE behaviour! The hanging pin was removed for us, and the medal was put into a smart box, then we were shown to the back of the ballroom to watch the remaining people being awarded.

When everyone had received their awards, The Prince of Wales left after the National Anthem, escorted by ghurkhas, and the Yeoman of the Guard marched out.

I met up with my family in the Ballroom, and took my medal out of its box straightaway and pinned it on. As I said to the people as we walked out at Buckingham Palace – if you’ve got it, flaunt it! Then it was out into the courtyard for our photos.

This is the first time heritage crafts have been nationally recognised like this, and the first time for calligraphy for about forty years. The Heritage Crafts Association is working hard to nominate deserving traditional craftpeople for honours and we hope to see many more makers in future New Year and Queen’s Birthday lists.

And the singer Adele? Well apart from standing next to her and her smiling back in the picture gallery, and spotting her a few rows in front in the ballroom, we didn’t see her again. Speaking to the photographers they said that celebrities and VIPs are usually fast tracked through afterwards.

What a fantastic experience!

Patricia Lovett MBE

Calligraphy | Illumination | Design