Les Howe - Jeweller & Silversmith

Thursday evening saw a goodly gathering of Rotarians and guests to be addressed by local silversmith Les Howe.  Les and his wife Viv brought along a table load of samples of his work, showing his skill in the art of jewellery crafting. 

Les proved to be an entertaining and humorous speaker, telling us tales of his craft and all its dark arts and explaining with illustrations and samples about some of his more memorable commissions.  By  far the most memorable of these was when he was asked by a Mrs. Turnbull to make a very large pectoral cross - when he questioned the size requested, suggesting it could be a bit ostentatious, he was told that this would not be the case with her husband, the then Bishop of Durham!

Having crafted many beautiful designs over the years, Les was asked to produce a brooch to be presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, and he himself was also presented!

A very enjoyable and entertaining evening was had by all , but perhaps more by some lady guests who availed themselves of the opportunity to purchase a bit of 'bling', much to their companions' delight I'm sure!