Barrel Maker, Actioner, Stocker, Engravers and Case Maker for world renowned English gunmakers - All demonstrating their craft and available to answer all of your most serching questions.


Visit the English Gunmaking Heritage stand and meet some of the most respected gunmaking artisans. Their workmanship can be seen in many of the finest English brands - Discover the intricacies of their craft and see what goes into making fine English guns the envy of the world.

Bill Blacker - Barrel maker

Bill Blacker is a barrel-maker at the top of his profession working over time at Holland & Holland and Purdey's. He began his career in 1976, aged sixteen, as an apprentice at Holland & Holland. The first year was spent making the tools of his trade and one day a week was passed at Willesden Technical College undertaking Mechanical Craft Studies.

By his second year Bill knew where his inclinations lay and moved into Holland’s barrel shop where he was mentored by the late Percy Batchelor for the remainder of his apprenticeship. In 1981 he moved onto the senior bench in the workshop.

In these days of spark erosion and computer-aided design it is important to recall that the Holland & Holland factory at that time, a little over 30 years ago, was largely mechanical. Lathes were belt driven and the rest of the barrel work was done in the time honoured fashion of filing with a succession of finer and finer tools.

His particular pleasure is building big rifles. The .500s and .600s. The minute technical requirements relating to sights fascinate him and the need for precise accuracy over long distances delivers a provocative challenge for him as a craftsman.

Bill Blacker at work in his workshop and examples of his craft...

Ian Tomlinson - Case maker

Ian Tomlinson is the proprietor of Traditional English Guncases. It is a family business boasting of over fifty years experience in the design and manufacture of hand made gun cases.

Only the finest materials are used in the making of the bags and cases. Selected bridle hides, solid brass fittings and the finest wool linings combined with the craftmanship of the highest standard make our products second to none.

It is only by the quality and feel that our cases can be identified since our name never appears on any item. Our cases are supplied to all the leading British gun makers, who then adorn them with their own labels.

A repair and renovation service request for any make of case is also available.

We also take on any special request for anything that can be made from leather or canvas.

Restoration is a service that we are offering due to frequent requests. This can be anything form a new handle through to a whole restoration of a case to cater for gun lengthening or personel requirements. It is good to remember that the case can be as old as the gun, so may need to have some maintence in order to keep it in good condition.

Embossing is a service on which we can place your initials on your cases to give the case a more personal touch¸or even to emboss a identifying tag if you have many cases. this would apply for gun clubs.

Stephane Dupille - Stocker.

Over 20 years of experience including 13 in the London gun trade. After graduating with a engineering diploma in France, I decided to spend three years at Leon Mignon School of Gun Making in Liege, Belgium whilst doing my apprenticeship at the famous gunmakers Marcel Thys and Sons. I then graduated with a Diploma of Actioner and Stockmaker in 1994 and worked for Gastinne-Renette, Paris for a while, I then became a full time stockmaker in 1995 for J.J Sipp in Strasbourg.

I left France in 1998 to achieve my life-long ambition to work on English guns for Watson Bros of London followed by Holland and Holland.
In 2002 I started out by myself within the premises of Atkin Grant & Lang where I spent over six years working for them and many prestigious companies such as;
Purdey and Sons - P.V Nelson - Westley Richards - William and Son - Dickson and MacNaughton - Holland&Holland - Watson Bros & WW.Greener.

In 2008 I decided to create my own workshop in Harlington, Bedfordshire to offer my services to both gun trade and the public.

http://www.stephenandson-gunmakers.co.uk

Ian Summerill - Gunmaker

Ian started in the gun trade in a small gunsmiths workshop in Somerset, C J Tovey. After two years he moved to I M Crudgington in Bath to finish off his apprenticeship as an action filer and spring maker where he worked until moving to George Gibbs in Bristol.
 
In 1988 Ian had a few years out of the trade working in the car industry and making kitchens. During his time out of the trade Ian started writing for the Countryman’s Weekly and Gun Mark on Gunsmithing and shooting. Returning to the trade full time in 1994 at Roxton’s in Cirencester before moving back to I M Crudgington  until December 2007.
 
From  January 2008 until today he has been working in his own workshop in North Somerset.
 
Ian has been on the committee for the Union of Country Sports Workers (UCSW) for 10 years.  He is their Public Relations officer and representative on the Deer Initiative.  Ian’s latest project for the Union, has been looking into the use of alternatives to lead shot, and he has found that there is a lot of misleading information surrounding the research. Ian is trying to stop a wider ban on the use of lead for shooting.
 
To help with his RP work for the UCSW, Ian runs Country Sports TV on youtube with 175,000 hits, it was the first country sports channel in the UK.

Hand Engravers Association

The Hand Engravers Association was set up a few years ago because engraving practitioners noticed that this specialist and unique skill was dying out in the UK and that there were no youngsters training to be engravers. The purpose of the HEA is to create awareness that engraving is still done by hand and is a trade which is still used in a wide variety of fields, ranging from gun work to silverware and jewellery, etc. So far, in a short period of time, the HEA have set up apprenticeship schemes with livery companies of London and are active demonstrators at shows throughout the British Isles. We have an educational programme based in London which we are trying to extend out to the rest of the UK. The UK has some of the best engravers in the world, including Ken Hunt (whose work will be on display on our stand) and Malcom Appleby, and it would be a shame to lose it from our heritage. Please come and visit our stand to see some world-class engravers at work. We may even inspire you to pick up a graver and have a go yourselves on one of our training courses! Or you may like to enquire about commissions on your guns, silverware or jewellery.



The engravers at the show will be:
 
Barry Green: The show organiser and gun representative of the Hand Engravers Association. He started engraving in 1995 at Sir John Cass College of Art and Design (Whitechapel, London) under Wayne Parrott. He won 4 major prizes including the Worshipful Company of Goldsmith’s 1st prize. Subsequently went on to work for Holland and Holland gunsmiths (London) as an in-house engraver and now freelances to major gun makers from his studio.

Lianne Green: At 14 years old Lianne trained at Sir John Cass College of Art and Design under Wayne Parrott, where she won 5 major awards including Worshipful Company of Goldsmith’s second prize. She’s now 22 and in her short career as an engraver she has so far worked as an in-house engraver at Watson Bros. Gunmakers in London, and now freelances to major gun companies throughout Great Britain and currently shares a studio with her uncle.


Martin Bublick: Studied at the Sir John Cass College of Art and Design in 1967/68 under Fred Prior. Subsequently worked in-house at Purdey’s Gunmakers (London) until 1976 and then freelanced as an engraver from his own studio. Then, in 1986, returned to Purdey’s to continue as an in-house engraver until 1998. From then onwards he has been working from his studio for major gun companies.


Wayne Parrott: Trained at the Sir John Cass College of Art and Design aged 13 years old, and afterwards went on to engrave in London and Germany. When he returned to England he became a lecturer at the Sir John Cass College of Art and Design, later senior lecturer, where he spent 35 years teaching the modern engravers of today in gun, silverware and jewellery engraving. He now freelances as an engraver from his studio in London and is the tutor for the Hand Engravers Association educational programme.


David Bedford: Following an apprenticeship in engraving, he went on to run and own JJ Bergin (an engraving company in Clerkenwell in London) and has completed many prestigious commissions. David is currently the proprietor of JJ Bergin, is the Treasurer of the Hand Engravers Association and is also involved in their educational programmes.
Visit thier website for more info - www.handengravers.co.uk