Old Portland, it’s all in the language

Posted on October 6, 2010 by Rob
Isle of Portland

Portland. :)

Portland, somewhere many of us are proud to call home, home in the sense of that’s where the heart is.

I do wonder if that will still be the case in 20 years from now, seeing how things are changing so rapidly,  change does lesson the “community” aspect, it is clear that community spirit was stronger in the past, it was stronger in my own childhood than it is these days so I know that to be a truth.

We are losing “Old Portland” …

Old Portland? Well, this poem by Bob is certainly Old Portland! …

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Portland Stonemasons treated with contempt, again!

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Rob
Portland's trades

:)

I recently wrote about Portland Stonemasons, sadly and pretty ironically the same day the biggest stone firm on Portland made many of my friends redundant, not the first time it’s happened either, Jeff Smith who own(ed) it did it several years ago right on Christmas, a real kick in the teeth. He didn’t even have the guts to stay and face people, running off on holiday like the coward he is and leaving everyone in the lurch. Nice bloke… not!

It is a sad state of affairs when people like him can do this sort of thing and not be punished in some way for it, he will no doubt set up a new firm name, take all the masons back on, then do it all again in a few years.

Although I understand people have mortgages to pay and such but the best thing that could happen is for all these masons to refuse to work for him again. I know, easier said than done, but I for one would never work for him again if that’s how he treats people.

I think there is much more than meets the eye with this situation, wonder how long until we find out?

As a follow up to the last post, here is another great poem by Bob Wollage, kindly sent to me by Sylv. Thanks Sylv. :)

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Portland Stonemasons

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Rob
Stonemasons mallet

:D Lovely things!

Portland is most famously known for it’s stone, and top quality it is. :)

Most of you will have seen it in the well known buildings of London, and elsewhere around the world, yes, Portland is scattered all over the place. :)

It’s a great medium to work with.

Having worked it myself enough to know, I think we Portland masons were lucky to have such a good stone to learn with, work with.

It’s neither very hard like marble nor too soft like Bath … it’s just right. :)

Stonemasonry is one of those skilled trades that seems to be dying off slowly, like roof thatchers and the like …  especially around here with the stone seemingly slabbed off at a very rapid rate for floor tiles, rather than being carved into something special, these days.

Plus the closure of the biggest stone firm on Portland didn’t help.

Here is another great poem by bob Wollage …

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