1947: Colin's woodworking started at about aged 9 at Dulwich Prep when I joined the excellent woodworking lunchtime class. We had a good teacher who taught us how to hold a saw and to use a chisel without cutting ourselves. I was lucky. I remember making a very simple doll's house. Sadly nothing from those days remain.
At about 16 Colin made this then modern formica-topped table, still in use in La Bruyere. He still remembers taking the bus to Bromley and spending what seemed lots of money on the then-modern formica sheet.
1955: Also from his teenage years is this table lamp. It has been re-wired at least twice but works fine. To add stability I added the four corner pieces.
1957: One of the last pieces made at the family home is this standard lamp. Its triangular section was made by sawing the whole length of a rectangular section. The hole up the middle was then quite easily chiselled before gluing the two sections together. To gain stability the original triangular base was considerably enlarged with a lower piece. It now sits in regular use in my organ room.
1968: Our house in MereDyke Road Steventon had an old wooden shed at the back of the garage. I dmolished it to make a new brick workroom on a concrete base. The old shed wood was made into this workbench. Moving to Avebury in 1970 there was already a nice workroom with bench so it went to my parents house in Ferring. It stayed there until Ray sold the house and it moved with her to Kew Win, to Blackwater Way and now to New Road.
1974: When the twins were small, I made for them this very long swing which hung from our great pine tree in Avebury garden. Its enormous length meant that it swung very slowly and safely. It had many years of use and still resides in my loft for another generation.
1974: Jonathan was very fond of his "Dinkie toy" cars when he was small. His collection was not large but very precious to him especially the double-decker bus in the picture. I made up this car park for him one birthday. It lived for ages on the lounge window seat and he would drive his cars up and down the ramps for ages. It was given to his children.
1975: When the children were small, I made this simple zylophone from the nice quality H-shaped TV arial taken off the Avebury chimney. It was much used and had a nice tone. It was re-strung in 2020.
1976: A big project at our Avebury house was to demolsh its old sheds and build this double garage and play room upstairs. It was adorned with sculptures of Liz and Jane made from an old stone block recovered from the foundations. The room was later sold with the Averbury bungalow and became a habitable room.
1978: When the twins were about 4 they had this characteristic habit of going to their mum, one on each side, back and front, and having a loving hug. I made this wooden carving from an old piece of softwood.
1994: This Scrabble set was made in my Avebury workshop just before I left for Mo. It was constructed from old wood from the kitchen there. It has been much used these last decades.
1985: I think the date is correct. Ray and George were coming for Christmas at Avebury and we needed a big Christmas tree for the hall. We had a big pine tree in the lawn. It had become too big and I decided to saw it down and use the top for our Chriatmas tree. The remainder lay exposed on the lawn and in a whim I measured all the heights of the family, Colin, Jon, Margaret, Elizabeth and Jane and made logs of length equal to these heights. They were placed upright on a wooden base under the big copper beech in the North-West corner of the garden until we moved. They then turned into a climbing frame for the children in 116 New Road by adding sideways struts making a ladder. These became unsafe after many years and they were moved to beneath the North solar panel where they remain - if slowly rotting away.
1997: Shelves covering the West wall of the kitchen at 12 Kew Win. There was a wide 'sideboard' shelf at table height, with a lower shelf and spaces for our two stools below. Much higher were other shelves for books and things. These were suspended by wires as seen at the top left and right of the picture. The scene shows it very much in use at Christmas with Andy, Ray, Sarah and Colin.
1997: For Jonathan and Paula's wedding in 1997 Colin made this corner cupboard from the old timbers of the big haronium that he had dismantled when we left Avebury, and the old window glass with real hand-made glass panes from Jane's old bedroom. It had an interesting wire suppport to the door which has made it last perfectly these last 25 years.
2000: The Avebury burch tree had been cut down, and that year many of its branches were used to make this Christmas present sculpture. It was inspired by the much larger example at Grey's Court near Henley. Ours has disintegrated with time, but this one at Margaret's house remains fine.
2004: Our house at La Bruyere has the most lovely old staircase with curved wood handrail and hand-made bannister poles. But one was broken! I removed the broken one to make a template and was able carve a replacement that it really difficult to spot.
2004: At this time we were both keen members of Wantage recorder group, which met weekly to play. Bass recorders played a crucial role, and Colin made one for himself and one for Mo, and a case as described elsewhere on this site. The lovely wood was a gift from friends Mel and Angela. Mo bought me the router for my birthday.
2005: This year the attic in our French house was made into a 4th bedroom, The original timbers were probably from when the house was build in around 1890. I could not bare to dispose of them and this old roof truss was mounded on our lounge wall. It has proved a very useful shelf for all sorts of things!
2005: At the same time there were many old rafters from the roof. I was able to make two archways from these which adorned our garden for many years. Sadly they are now gone with the wind!
2006: Our New Road house has no garage. It did have space for a bike shed. Plans were made and gorgeous oak door timbers bought at the Belleme wood yard. Lots of concrete was mixed by hand and stout frame timber aquired from neighbour's cast-offs. Its lasted well and takes 3 bikes, a log-splitter, and lots of odd things on its shelves.
2006: I was able to pick up these old iron frames for a seat. They went very well with the old garden furnature in La Bruyere. I went to the woodyard and bought the oak slats and made up this seat which is still going strong.
2006: Coming come on the bike one evening I spotted nice timbers from an old bed. Mo had been wanting an archway to frame the not-so-nice passageway down the South side of the house. The arch owed a little the Cambridge "mathematical arch" over the Cam in using plenty of triangles to give it some ridgidity. It was adorned by our most expensive rose - a climbing variety with a big summer flush. A decade old its still going strong.
2006: When Streatley Church organ was replaced by a new one, much of the old one went into a skip. I recovered many pieces, including the pedalboard which turned into my electronic orgen, which has been in constant use ever since!
2009: While in America in 1963 Colin sculpted this chess set from balsa wood and it was much used. Later he made this board from light and dark oak offcuts given to me my Dominique at Belleme woodyard. Its dismantles into blocks which make an excellent child's toy.
2010: Colin worked on buried land mines for years. In 2010 he was lead organiser of an exhibit at the the Royal Society Soiree. Its centre piece was the sandpit made from old timbers from our Belleme roof. Our Queen was there and Colin showed her round and talked to her for 8 minutes!
2010: The rainwater flushing toilet was made from the good timbers of James old garage door frame. It needed to be really strong to hold up a full water butt. It has never yet been any problem.
2010: When the wood-burning stove was installed we build this oak surround to the fireplace. Dominique at the Belleme woodyard helped me select a most suitable piece for the large uprights and skillfully cut them to the required length, along with a wide piece for the mantlepiece. We have been delighted with it.
This rather big project is described in more detail elsewhere 2011: The frame came as firewood from our Belleme friend Gerard, and the wide music stand from my old wardrobe. The keyboard was from Streatley Church and the pipes from singing friend Jesse.The soundbox was quite a tricky bit of woodworking!
2011: Having installed the wood-burning stove, a wood store was needed. This was built on the south side of the house from some good straight tree-trunks, and spare wood and tiles. It has served us well for many years!
2012: We both love books and wanted some big shelves in our lounge both to hold books and folders for old photos. Colin bought these lovely oak shelves from the woodyard in St Martin du Vieux Bellem. He remembers wandering round the store room selecting just the right lengths to fit into the old Ford Ka. They were designed to hold just the books we wanted to hold with various heights and widths for each book type. The big middle shelf has been fantastic as a sideboard for putting lovely things on.
2013: Mo had long wanted a secure door to the South of the house and a covered area to keep her garden tools. I bought gorgeous oak from the St Martin woodyard to match the cycle shed door. It was tricky to make as I did not want it to touch our neighbour's garden fence. I has worked out fine, even if used for more things than garden tools!
2014: A big project this year was to turn our attic into a useful room, including stairs to go from Colin's organ room. The treads and risers were all built from oak from the Belleme wood yard. Dominique wandered round the yard with me and helped me select some very weathered old tree slabs. The stairs were by then designed in detail and I was able to cut out most of the pieces in our French garden so they were easy to transport home. There followed much planing and sandpapering before assembly. The design has worked well and all the spaces under the stairs are now in good use for the printer and paper stores.
2017: Mo wanted to greatly increase the capacity of the music shelves next to the piano. Colin bought some nice hardwood from the woodyard in St Martin du Vieux Bellem and constructed them rather like the big bookcase with a wide shelf at head height. They have proved really useful.
2019: It seemed time to have a clock like the Belleme clock in our house. This one was made from Belleme oak with similar shards from a fallen oak tree to make the decorations. It has worked well ever since!
2020: During covid lockdown we need a big project and we build a workshop to replace our old wooden shed. There was much joinary to be done with many "Crow's beak" joints to be cut in the rafters. I bought lovely oak for the door and window frames. It was a lovely joint project.
2020: There were many tools to be stored in the new workshop. Also the solar freezer's batteries needed to be stored safely. Its size was in the end determined by the battery length and its height by the need to double as a seat. It was largely made from bits from the old harmonium I had dismantled. It is much used. The end with a cushion doubles as a summer "work from home" office, with good wifi.
Copyright 2021 Colin Windsor : Last updated 10/8/2024