Welcome to my website

This site is still under construction, but please feel free to browse the story so far! It's a fairly slow loader, but I'm working on it!
(It works best in 600 x 800 screen size)

For a good many years, I have been producing top quality hide belts, handbags and accessories, using entirely traditional tools, methods and materials.

If you wish to contact me for further information, a price list, or to discuss a special requirement, you can do so by e-mail at
[email protected]

Much of my work has a Celtic theme, using knotwork and zoomorphic designs derived from the Book of Kells, the Lindisfarne Gospels, and Celtic crosses throughout western Europe.

The following photographs illustrate a part of the range which is available.

BELTS
Most people are not straight-sided, so why are most belts made straight? The gentle curve which is built into my belts ensures that there is no 'bagging' at the back and sides, and the belt lies flat against the waist. All belts are individually hand-tooled, dyed with colour-fast saddle dyes, and hand-polished to a lustrous finish. The solid brass buckles are cast in sand moulds, and polished by hand.

The 'Celtbelt'. The example at top has alternating Celtic knotwork and thonging along its length. The lower belt has a continuous knotwork design along its length.

BAGS

This bag is hand-carved in 4mm hide, and is approximately 25cm in diameter. It has an internal divider, with a zip-fastening pocket. All fittings are in cast brass. A range of knotwork designs is available, or the front may be left plain. This example is black.

This bag is hand-tooled in 4mm hide, and is approximately 26cm wide. It has an internal divider, with a zip-fastening pocket. All fittings are in cast brass. A range of knotwork designs is available, or the front may be left plain. This example is tan.

Another popular design, in 4mm hide, approximately 25cm wide. It has an internal divider, with a zip-fastening pocket. All fittings are in cast brass. The front may be carved, tooled or left plain. This example is saddle brown.

KEYCASES AND POUCHES

A range of 6-hook and 8-hook keycases, in 2mm hide, together with a selection of belt pouches in 4mm hide. These items are available in a basic colour range of black, tan and saddle brown.

BITS AND PIECES

A selection of small items.
Back left - Refillable lighters, with tooled leather case.
Centre - Pound coin holders (holds 14 coins) with tooled leather cover.
Front left and right centre - Tooled leather hairslides.
Back right - Thonged leather neck-purses.
Front right - Bookmarks (tooled with pattern or name).

WESTERN LEATHERWORK

A pair of hand-carved Western saddlebags, made as a special commission. The design possibilities are infinite, and items of this type are the result of much discussion - it is important to get it right first time!

Another pair of Western saddlebags, made from top-quality bridle leather. These were made for heavy all-weather use.

Western holsters have to be tailored to fit both the wearer and the gun. Again, the design options are endless, but most guns (and wearers!) can be accommodated.

What is Vegetable Tanned Leather?

The leather that I use is tanned by the vegetable tanning process. Hides are prepared by soaking for up to two weeks in a lime solution to dissolve the hair roots. The hair is removed by a combination of mechanical and hand rubbing, and the hides are soaked in water to remove the excess lime. In the 'raw hide' state, the skins are cut to the required sizes - shoulders, butts, backs, sides or bellies - before being transferred to the tanning pits.

The tannery has 72 tanning pits, each containing a successively stronger solution of tanning liquor, made from oak bark soaked in water. Each pit will accommodate about sixty hides. After a week in the weakest tanning liquor, the hides are moved along to the next pit, and this process continues until the hides have passed through fifty pits. Most hides are completely tanned after fifty weeks, but some leathers - for shoe soles and heavy-duty applications - require a further twenty-two weeks of tanning to achieve their full strength.

The tanned hides are stretched, dried and rolled, and the back is shaved to a uniform thickness. A mixture of cod oil and mutton fat is rubbed into the surface by hand, to restore the suppleness of the leather.

When moistened, vegetable tanned leather will retain a stamped or carved impression. Much of the vegetable tanned leather produced in this country is hand-dyed, and given further dressings of oils, making the leather waterproof and suitable for use in the manufacture of high quality saddlery. The leather that is used for most shoe uppers, clothes and upholstery is tanned by a quicker and cheaper chemical process.

I wish to thank Hamlyns of Colyton, South Devon, for their hospitality in allowing me to visit their tannery and take the above photographs. This is one of the last remaining traditional oak bark tanneries in England, and most of their machinery was built before 1914. The grinder which crushes the oak bark is driven by a water-wheel that is over 100 years old! All of the finishing processes are carried out by hand, and the end product is pure quality!

Did you Know . . ?

Vegetable tanning is probably the oldest method of leather-making. Examples of vegetable tanned leather dating from the Bronze Age (about 3,700 years ago) have been found in Britain, and stone and bone leather-working tools dating from the Stone Age have also been found in this country.
Ancient people are known to have made water buckets and pots from leather. When tightly stitched, the wet leather expands and becomes perfectly watertight.
Nomadic people in desert countries often still use leather water carriers. They are lighter than pottery, and less fragile. When water penetrates the leather, it evaporates from the outside, cooling the water inside.

That's the end of the story so far! I will be adding to this site soon, as time and patience permit, so please call again.

In the meantime, please be kind enough to sign my guestbook.