Craftsman bringing home the best of Yorkshire

But a York wood craftsman is bringing some of Yorkshire’s most iconic buildings into people’s homes.

After giving up his job as a deputy headmaster, Richard Cantrell has spent the past five years locked away in the workshop of his Upper Poppleton home carving out his new career.

His latest commissions are models of the two North Yorkshire abbeys, which stand at around 18 inches high.

Mr Cantrell, 57, said: “The Fountains Abbey carving is a memento for someone getting married at the abbey. I’m using wood from a big tree trunk found in the grounds and carving it into the form of one of the ends of the building. I have also been commissioned to carve the archetypical view of Whitby Abbey.

“I would quite like to have a go at Kirkham and Rievaulx next. The wood I use really lends itself to ruined buildings because of the natural grain and the cracking of the wood. I tend to use wood called spalted beech. It has the most amazing colours of blacks, browns and creams in it and looks like stonework when you carve and work it.”

Before he sets to work on the models, Mr Cantrell photographs the buildings from a variety of different angles and then creates detailed scaled drawings. He then works meticulously from his design to ensure he gets the proportions of the replica just right.

Each carving takes between 20 and 25 hours to make, but first the timber must undergo a three to four-year maturing process to ensure it is dry enough to sculpt.

However Mr Cantrell insists it is worth the wait. “When you’re working with wood every single piece is different and you don’t know what the end result is going to be – that’s part of what makes it so special,” he said.

It is this discernible passion for his craft that led him away from teaching – a career he enjoyed at Bishopthorpe Junior School for over 20 years.

What initially started out as a teenage hobby transformed into a full time labour of love when demand for his work rapidly grew.

“I worked with wood ever since I was a teenager all the way through my teaching career and it was a hobby that took over.I found that the demands of what I was making outstripped the time that I had available,” he said.

Mr Cantrell insists he has never looked back. “I loved teaching and I miss the daily contact working with children and seeing them develop, but I don’t miss the wear and tear that primary teaching has. I absolutely love what I’m doing now and feel a very lucky person to have had two careers. I wouldn’t have wanted to change anything,” he said.

Very much at one with Yorkshire’s natural heritage, the self-taught wood craftsman supplies National Trust properties across the region with gift items.

From vases and bowls to wooden fruits and jewellery boxes, his designs grace the shelves in gift shops from York to Ravenscar.

“The National Trust wood always comes from Fountains Abbey and it comes from trees that have fallen down,” said Mr Cantrell.

“I recycle wood for them to sell and that’s one of the lovely things about it. All the timber is grown overlooking the abbey at Fountains. There is a bit of history captured in the wood.

“Most of the timber I use is completely recycled and is branchwood that would otherwise be left to rot or be burnt. It’s great to make something beautiful out of a piece of wood that’s had its life but can still be used for something else.”

Before embarking on a teaching career at Bishopthorpe, Mr Cantrell worked in museum education.

During this time he was inspired to make interactive model trains, to promote learning for visiting children.

He said: “I was approached by York’s National Railway Museum to do a project called Toys and Trains and it mushroomed from there.

“Over the years I have supplied a whole range of locomotive models for the museum, as well as places like the Didcott Railway Centre, Oxfordshire, and the Steam Museum at Swindon.”

Mr Cantrell is also working on a series of large abstract pieces, which he hopes to sell in art galleries.

Dolls’ houses and play panels for schools also feature in his repertoire under the umbrella of his two businesses, Models in Wood and Tom Thumb Designs.

With hours spent feverishly working away in his workshop, his wife and two children could be forgiven for feeling a little neglected at times. However, Mr Cantrell insists that they have wholly embraced his hobby.

Antelope figure sparked interest

MR CANTRELL’S first carving was of a small antelope.

Fondly remembering his first project, he said: “An aunt of mine brought back a little carved antelope from Switzerland and armed with some very rudimentary tools, I set myself the job of copying it. I gave one to all of my aunts and uncles.”

His favourite piece was a bowl that he carved from yew wood.

He said: “It was absolutely beautiful. It had all sorts of colours in it, like purples, oranges and creams. I made for someone in the village for a golden wedding present and it was just the most beautiful piece of wood.”

One of Mr Cantrell’s biggest projects was a large 17th century wooden frigate, which was made for Ham House in Surrey 18 months ago.

As well as carving wood by hand, Mr Cantrell also uses wood turning methods on a lathe.

It is not unusual for Mr Cantrell to find a pile of logs in his garden, which have been dropped off by fellow villagers who admire his work.