DECAYING GRANDUER

[FUJI]

As soon as I spotted this I felt very sad...

 

 

 

Sad for the Eighteenth Century Joiner who made that once beautiful Fanlight:

 

Sad for the person who floated that hand made glass that has the disinctive surface blemishes:

 

Sad for all the Painters and Decorators who helped  keep that beautiful Fanlight in pristine condition

 

Sad for the all the memories that, over the years have passed beneath that once grand entrance:

 

Sad that this appears to be the end of the road for a once grand house, next door has already gone:

 

Sad to remember too, I started my working life as a fifteen year old Carpenter/Joiner in a gas-lit Joiners Shop, where my foreman and fellow joiners wore white aprons over their Bib-n-Brace Overalls in the shop and who wore  flat caps and had a fag on as soon as they were outside.

 

We maintained the houses of the local Gentry, all our joinery was hand-made in-house, from the sawn timber to the beautifully finished product.

The workshop walls were lined with old tools, templates, patterns and best of all, the dozens of different Moulding Planes used for centuries to produce (by hand) all the beautiful profiles and mouldings all done (badly) by machines today:

 

I still have my set of Moulding Planes (all handed down) , all Linseed Oiled and ready to go, but sadly, hardly anyone would know where to start...............To have a 5ft length of thin timber,soon to be an even thinner Georgian style glazing bar on the bench was a very real challenge, especially when one side was finished....remember, that every Georgian Window, had dozens of exceptionally thin, hand-moulded glazing bars, which is why I felt sad when I saw the Decaying, Neglected Fanlight which will almost certainly be smashed wihout a second thought:

 

 

 

 

Best viewed LARGE.....click on Pic:

 

FUJI

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bugmeister]

The picture tells a story of neglect and decay all on it's own, but adding your memories and thoughts makes it a lot more thought-provoking and sad.

[NannyFerret]

It's a pity that you couldn't retrieve the  fan and restore it for the museum. I would love to have a look inside the house.

[colinb]

sad maybe - but at least it is still there with no broken panes and hasn't been boarded up or filled in.