February
Our February talk was a special date in all our diaries which we were looking forward to very much. We were not disappointed.
Our own history group member Ken Langford together with his prodigy Suzie Fletcher, regaled us with many stories of their time working together in Ken’s local saddlery business, and Suzie also talked about some of the favourite objects she has worked on.
Suzie is a master saddler and leather expert on the much loved BBC TV series ‘Repair Shop’. Growing up in Witney, she talked about her love of leatherwork & saddles which initially came from a childhood love of horses. She met Ken in the 1970s, as a 14 year old, when she visiting his workshop with an old broken saddle, he encouraged her to take it apart herself and try putting it back together again; and fostered her interest in working with and caring for leather. Firstly encouraging her to train in London, she then returned to become his apprentice. Suzie then spent 20 years in the USA honing her craft before returning to the UK and joining the Repair Shop team 10 years ago.
Ken & Suzie have had a lasting friendship for over 40 years and the affection and esteem they hold for each other’s craft and skills was very apparent to everyone in the hall. On display was a wide selection of tools used in leather working, beautiful objects in their own right.
The talk was very well attended by our group members, together with 17 additional visitors. Suzie very kindly did not want a speaker’s fee so a small donation was made to Sobell House on her behalf to thank her for finding time to come to talk to our group.
