04/04/2026
"It is a privilege to work with one's hands" ... Today, some of our team visited the Crystal Palace Subway that was recently restored and reopened in London. For almost 90 years it had lain neglected in ruins, under the wet hillside. Its shallow domes on pendentives are repeated in a hypostyle hall design that was the entrance into the park and the exhibition hall. By the skill of its designers and builders, it looks like a swirling "art nouveau" space, like the billowing folds of a giant swirling fabric. Its makers clearly understood structural masonry in the mid-19th century, at the height of Britain's power. It is known that imperial preference was a major source for Britain's industrial wealth, but this was not the only source. This wealth was also built on a foundation of skilled physical work and enjoyment of work. Thankfully imperial preference and empire have ended, but this should not stop us, in the industrialised world (which is now most of the world) taking up skilled hard work again. It is time to re-learn this lost knowledge and acknowledge what a privilege it is to work with our hands.
