Glass articles - Glass Makers and Artists |
In 1965, when I left school at 15 years of age, I worked in an Edinburgh delicatessen for around two months and did not enjoy it one bit. One Wednesday, on a half day from the shop, another employee there, Tom Ross, said he was going to Edinburgh Crystal to see if he could get a job, and he asked me to go along as moral support for him. We walked through the large blue gates and up the concrete ramp at the side of the building. At the top, we turned right through the rubber swing doors and into the glasshouse. My immediate thoughts were, “Wow! What’s all this about?” There was steam from the hot moulds and guys swinging hot glass around, and the atmosphere was electric. We walked up to the office where Tom spoke to Jack Blake, the foreman, who offered him a job. Then he turned to me and asked, “What about you son? Would you like a job? You’ll earn £7.00 per week and around 10/- (50p) bonus. You start at 6.00 a.m. and finish when the number is reached but no later than 1.30 p.m.” As I was earning around £2 14/- (£2.70) a week in the shop, my immediate answer was yes; there was something else that excited me about the job, but at that time I didn’t know what it was. We worked one weeks’ notice in the shop and then started working for Edinburgh Crystal as glassblowing apprentices. How impressive does that sound? No qualifications and a huge bit of luck, and there I was beginning a trade the thought of which really excited me. On my first day, I was put to work with Jack McDonald (Jacko), a tumbler blower. I was to keep him supplied with blowing irons and to take the blown pieces into the annealer. We made around 300 tumblers that day, and I had to make 150 trips back and forward to the annealer with two tumblers at a time on metal Y-shaped forks, one tumbler in each fork. As time progressed, I built up a really good relationship with Jacko, and within a few months he taught me how to blow in the mould. On occasion, he would let me blow the last few tumblers of the shift, maybe as many as 10. I seemed to be able to pick things up relatively easily. By the time I was 16½ years old I was put with Ricky Tait blowing balls for industrial tubes. I was always interested in learning techniques and used to help Jim McNeil (Spider) make various things during lunch and tea breaks, which was completely against company rules of course, but how else were you supposed to learn? In 1968, I had a bout of wanderlust and left Edinburgh Crystal for approximately seven months. When I got back to Edinburgh, I went to see some of my ex-colleagues in Edinburgh Crystal to say hello. Jack Blake asked me if I’d like to go back as a taker-in and start to work my way up to become a glassblower again. I jumped at the chance, even if it meant starting at the bottom once more, so I rejoined Edinburgh Crystal in November 1968. At some stage, (I’m afraid I can’t remember exactly when) the government was giving grants to companies to train apprentices and so Edinburgh Crystal decided to start a more structured training programme. Along with other apprentices, I was trained to gather from a false furnace front made from chipboard with an orange glow from a light bulb and a bucket with a glue-like substance, which was supposed to replicate the feeling of gathering glass without the heat. No matter if you could gather or not, we all had to go through the process. After passing gathering school, I was asked to train as a footmaker [the person who blows the bowls for glasses] for the handmade team, two steps away from being a handmade gaffer. We were taught for two hours, two nights a week by retired handmade gaffer Andrew Scott. (Later, he taught in the Edinburgh College of Art glass department.) He would show us some techniques he hadn’t used in years as well as techniques relevant to our training needs. We stood in for the footmaker (the rest of the team moving up one place) in the case of an absentee in the handmade teams during the normal working day if required. The regular team members got added bonus because we were only trainees, so you better believe they trained us to work quickly to make the most of the extra cash available to them. The move to the new factory in Penicuik, Midlothian, was in two stages: the cutters moved out in, I think, 1969; we were moved to the new glasshouse in 1974. By this time, I was back working with Jack McDonald blowing balls for the light continental and with the heavy continental blower, Walter Smith, if his ball blower was absent. As continental blowing is done standing up instead of using the chair, I had to learn how to use a yoke and how to turn the iron using my left hand while using the tools in my right hand to shape and cut in the balls. Unfortunately, Walter passed away in 1975, and after a few months, I was offered the job on the heavy continental. I accepted and took over the job in October 1975. Fortunately for me, Jack and Walter always seemed keen to pass on tips when I worked with them and this put me in great stead when I started on the continental. |
Derek Walls - continental working at Edinburgh Crystal in 1975 |
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Derek Walls (Yellow shirt) assisting Alastair Macintosh in a demonstration at the 2010 glass conference held at Edinburgh College of Art |
I was really interested in learning other things about glass, historical things and old techniques we were never encouraged to do in industry, which was something I never really understood. When, in 1985, Edinburgh College of Art advertised for a glass technician to teach blowing, to run and maintain the furnaces, and to mix the batch as well as all the other things required to do the job, I applied and, thankfully, was offered the post, which I accepted. The job has changed over the past 25 years, but fortunately, I came into the job expecting to learn as much as I taught, and that has proved to be the case almost every single day. The students with their ideas can push your skills to the limit in helping them, but when they achieve their aims, I still feel almost euphoric. I can only imagine it would be like my football team (Hibernian) winning the Scottish Cup! The highlights of my career so far have been working in Italy twice. The first time was in 2003 in the Vetromaghie studio www.vetromaghie.com with Nadia Festuccia and Richy Pirrie in Testa di Lepre outside Rome. Then I was invited by them to take two students over to Bevagna in Umbria and take part in their medieval festival for three weeks in 2006, both teaching blowing and doing demonstrations for the public. I look back over the last 45 years of blowing glass and think to myself that, as far as work is concerned, I could not have found a better way to make a living. I feel so lucky to have offered moral support to a friend 45 years earlier and ended up blowing glass for the rest of my working life. Derek Walls, 26 October 2010 |
1975 Penicuik pictures ©2010 A MacIntosh
2010 ECA conference image ©2010 W Seelentag
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