Late Night Demonstration with John Aitken 'The Bowler Hatted Turner'
- 26th June 2024
Join us for a brilliant evening of woodturning with John Aitken 'The Bowler Hatted Turner'
About John:
I am delighted to announce that His Gracious Majesty King Charles III has awarded me the British Empire Medal in the 2024 New Years Honours List.
I am a Registered Professional Turner based in Trowbridge in Wiltshire. My first experience of turning was at school, I cut the wood to a rough round shape with a tenon saw, planed the bottom flat with a hand plane and glued it to a backing board using a paper joint, I then screwed it to a face plate. That was the limit of what I was allowed to do as the teacher then proceeded to turn a bowl whilst explaining the rudiments of turning.
I was apprenticed as a joiner/wood machinist and part of that training included woodturning although I would struggle to get on the lathe as all the old boys bagged it first.I ran my own joinery company for a while and I have been self employed now for a number of years, doing carpentry and joinery and making bespoke furniture.Having a need to find a slightly lighter job, and turning as a hobby, I decided to start turning full time,this was made easier by the fact that I just offered my regular customers a new service. I now turn full time for a living give tuition on a regular basis to aspiring turners.In 2009 I was accepted onto the Register of Professional Turners which is supported by The Worshipful Company of Turners and I became the Chairman of the RPT in 2016. In 2020 I was given the great honour of being made a Freeman by Presentation of the Worshipful Company of Turners of London.
- Completely FREE event
- Limited seating available
- LIVE inside the Toolshop
- Open to all
- NO BOOKING REQUIRED
- Shop open to browse & buy until 6.30pm
