Move over Lord Sugar, Ced is searching for apprentice (From Worcester News)

Move over Lord Sugar, Ced is searching for apprentice

9:59am Monday 23rd January 2012 in Mike Pryce By Mike Pryce

IT’S not normally within the remit of this column to advertise job opportunities, but this one is rather special.

For a start there is no money involved – which probably slims the potential recruitment field by a good three quarters – just a lot of satisfaction. It also doesn’t mean working with small children or animals. So that’s the Father Christmas role done for.

Although when I first met Ced Lewis, I felt that I had found Santa out of season. Jolly with a white beard, he could easily fill in if the old bloke from the North Pole hands in his cards.

As it is, Ced is the resident wheelwright/carpentry expert/ woodworking genius at Worcestershire County Museum at Hartlebury, near Worcester, and he’s looking for an apprentice.

As Ced is 82, “the lad” – or ladette come to that – could easily be 60, which opens things up a bit.

Indeed, it’s just the sort of voluntary (hence no money) job that might appeal to someone who has retired. In much the same way Ced first became involved more than 20 years ago.

He was helping out at the museum as a volunteer when he came across an old milk pram that had seen decidedly better days. He carved some new spokes for the wheels and in his own words: “Things grew from there.”

Today, Ced makes the twiceweekly car drive from his home near Wolverhampton to look after the museum’s historic collection of old gipsy caravans, carriages and carts and various other horsedrawn vehicles.

He also makes items for the numerous living history displays – anything from a Welsh dresser to a clothes dryer suspended from the ceiling of a Victorian kitchen. He’s even carved the wooden head of a horse to display old bridlework.

“But I’m not getting any younger,” he said, “and I know I can’t go on forever. The physical side is getting harder for a start.

“That’s why we’re looking for someone to come in and work alongside me so I can pass the job on eventually.

“They don’t necessarily need to be a skilled carpenter, but they must have an interest in wood and woodworking and obviously it would help if they had some basic knowledge.”

Ced’s talent takes a direct line back to his father, who was a school woodwork teacher. The son decided not to go down that route for a career and became an engineer, however he did pursue woodworking as a hobby and became expert at making scale models of horse-drawn carts.

“I’m in seventh heaven working here with the real thing,” he laughed.

For the most part, Ced uses traditional tools and while for most of the time he beavers away in the museum’s workshops out of sight, occasionally he dons period garb and acts the role of “a wheelwright from along ago” for parties of visitors.

But it’s not just his skill as a woodworker that makes him so special. His talents have stretched to coachwork painting, iron working and pretty much all aspects of horse-drawn vehicle restoration. And there’s always his wife Olga to lend a hand too.

Pride of place in the museum’s gipsy caravan collection is one called Esmeralda, a bow top vehicle which was donated in the late 1990s.

“It has an iconic place in Romany history,” Ced explained.

“In the late 1800s and early 1900s it was owned by the Gipsy Law Society, a group of intellectuals and professionals sympathetic to the gipsy cause.

“They used it to live among gipsy communities to better understand their culture and language. The vehicle later passed into private ownership and eventually reappeared for sale in 1996, by which time it had been standing in a field and was in a rather sad state.”

Ced has renovated Esmeralda from top to bottom, including some highly skilful painting, while Olga made the curtains, drapes and other needlework for the interior.

The vehicle is one of seven gipsy caravans in the collection, which also includes a variety of horsedrawn and hand carts, among them an impressive horsedrawn fire engine from 1865, which came to the museum from Tickenhill at Bewdley and was Ced’s first major renovation job 20 years ago.

“I’m not sure how we are ever going to replace him,” said museum manager Robin Hill.

“Ced has been invaluable. His work is right up there with the best professional standards, but we hope that by finding someone to come in and work alongside him, Ced can pass on his invaluable experience and skills.”

If you fancy applying, Mr Hill’s number is 01299 250416. As previously mentioned, there is no money, but you might be able to negotiate a few supplies of lucky heather.