Craft: James Allcock

David Parish

The Michaelmas 2023 edition of TBP had an article by Jason Fischer called “Handmade Resistance.” One of the TBP readers, James Allcock, responded with an email to Craig Bartholomew saying how it had resonated with his experience of working with wood to make model buildings. As I have known James for some years, Craig suggested I interview him.

David Parish: James, here we are in your home surrounded by wooden scale models of various buildings from your house to cathedrals. What got you into model making?

James Allcock: It was during the Covid lockdown. My son called me and said one of our grandsons would love a wooden fort for Christmas and could I make one. I decided to try but all I had was some plywood and an old tenon saw. I imagined a mediaeval castle and looked at some images online. There was also an online video on how to make a drawbridge and portcullis that would work.

I wouldn’t say the end result was elegant, but my grandson loved it and it still is a treasured possession, now populated with a Lego army.

DP: What happened next?

JA: I had so enjoyed the experience I decided to build a model of our home.

DP: Did you buy any model-making tools for this next project?

JA: No. I just continued with my saw and chisel and plans of the house and again the act of building something with my hands was pleasing. I then thought of trying something larger. One of my parents’ homes had been in Newcastle and we often visited nearby Durham Cathedral, which has a magnificent setting on top of a hill above the river. There is a wonderful view from the mainline East Coast railways that looks across to the cathedral.

DP: At this point you must have thought of buying special tools and getting scale plans of the building?

JA: No, I was happy with my saw and I looked at images online and went with trial and error, and I admit some sections were so bad I smashed them up and started again.

DP: What was the most difficult aspect of building something so large?

JA: Well, getting the scale and proportions right without plans and drawings was hard. However, model building was proving satisfying and getting under my skin and I found various ways of coping without a fretsaw or bandsaw. For example, the side walls are cut through at window height and the windows cut out and the building glued together.

I also came across a copy of the book by Dorothy L Sayers, The Mind of the Maker, and the idea that humankind made in the image of God is of someone who makes things. “God made, regarded and rested.” This echoed my own experience and made sense for me of God as creator.

DP: We are looking at a model of Salisbury Cathedral, a much more complex building with the iconic central spire. Why Salisbury as the next project?

JA: One Advent we visited friends who lived in Salisbury and went to the Advent Carol service. It starts in total darkness and as the choir sings the opening anthems the cathedral gradually fills with light. It is a wonderful building and I asked a friend to take photos of it from several angles and I worked from those. I had also bought a fretsaw to help with the details. Again, it’s not perfectly to scale but I found the construction experience very satisfying.

DP: It looks amazing! And now the latest is Lincoln, famous for its three square towers rising above the fenland.

JA: Yes, another wonderful building with a rose west window. I liked the form and mass of the building.

DP: Do you have any engineering background?

JA: No, I worked in the oil industry and was responsible for writing major gas contracts and seeing a large project come to fruition was satisfying but I was not making anything. My model making has filled that need. I can’t stand as well as I used to and so I am thinking of moving to wood carving which I could do sitting down but having started using my hands I don’t want to give it up.

DP: It has been a fascinating journey and thank you for sharing it.

James Allcock was a senior executive with British Gas and was given an OBE for services to industry. He was also a board member of LICC and has written and spoken about Christian distinctives in business.

David Parish is a retired airline executive and an Associate Fellow of KLC.