Redhouse Glass Crafts
The Stourbridge Glassmakers The Ruskin Glass Centre
The Stourbridge Glassmakers The Ruskin Glass Centre Redhouse Glass Crafts
All photographs and interviews by Sarah McDowall
Richard Lamming
Glass cutter and repairer
“Hi, I’m Richard Lamming, I’ve lived in Stourbridge all my life apart from the first six weeks when my parents moved down from North Yorkshire” “We’ve been at the Ruskin centre for nearly 16 years, we originally set up at the Red house glass cone. We were there for 14 or 15 years, before we moved here” “In here we repair damaged crystal and chip rims, we also do some cutting and polishing, we use traditional hand skills alongside modern machinery.” “We get commissions from all over the UK, even abroad now as well. We’ve done a piece for America and we have customers in Germany, Holland, France.”
“It is generally a steady avalanche shall we say, not flow of work load. You do get busier times of the year, especially now running up to Christmas. When everyone starts checking their glasses, making sure they are okay for the celebrations.�
“While we’re here come and view the glass! Because in a number of years time, people like ourselves, we’re getting older we can only carry on for so long” “It is a bit of a dying art, we would appreciate someone who is genuinely interested to come in and have a go, see if they could carry it on.”
“The most expensive piece we have done is for a chandelier, we were doing part of it for somebody else. It was worth £60,000 plus, it was shipped off to America, that was a bit frightening at times. They were one off pieces that we made, that had to be hand finished and hand polished”
“Locally we know of two people who do what we do, but for them it’s more of a side line. We generally concentrate on repairs and what we call the glass processing” “Here the actual cutting is more of a side line apart from when customers want pieces digitally hand polished, we are the only people in the area that have the facilities to do that”
Stourbridge is a town, located in the West Midlands and is known to be the glass quarter of England. Glassmaking in Stourbridge can be dated as far back as 1612, the glass is still classed as some of the world’s finest and has been used many times as gifts for royalty. The Ruskin Glass Centre is a distinct space that encompasses an array of glassmakers who are all very successful. They all have their own techniques and although it might not look like the materials they use are glass, they all have one thing in common they all are glassmakers The Stourbridge Glassmakers. Thank you to Richard Lamming for his time and patience. www.ruskinglasscentre.co.uk
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