[Jake Wood] The apprentice stonemason Interview Date: 24/04/2014 Location: Drawing board office Length: [00:31:31] Interviewee:

Jake Wood Interviewer: Andrei Allen Transcriber: Andrei Allen Note: []

Time [00:02:05] [00:03:23]

Transcribed Q. How long have you been a stonemason apprentice for? A. Ive been a stonemason apprentice for 4 years now and Ive got my level 2 nvq and level 3 nvq, and now Ive moved on to the cathedral workshop fellowship foundation, which is a degree, which means I go and visit all of the other cathedrals that are a part of CWF program Q. What did your level 2 nvq A. That consist of just basic banker skills, and then the level 3 moves onto the fixing Q. How much work is there to be done at the cathedral? A. erm, the work, theres a lot of work to do on the cathedral, theres erm, jobs and jobs keep coming up, because the cathedral is such an old place, and its such an important place, and its vital that we conserve the building before it gets in a state of decay where, you have to maybe replace, or do a lot of conservation. Q. What do you enjoy about doing this work? A. I enjoy that the fact that Im leaving, leaving something behind, past, past my life, and my, my input on Canterbury cathedral building which will be there forever if that makes sense kind of, Ive had my part on the building and no one can take that away, so, I like that part yea. Q. What is your favorite aspect of what youve learnt so far? A. My favorite job, part of the job my favorite par of the job I would say, I enjoy fixing, fixing on the site a lot, and working the stone in the workshop. Q. What are you currently working on at the moment? A. at the moment Im doing, Im setting out seal stones for the great south window,

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Q. Can you give me a brief example breaking down the stages of how you would do that work? A. so, when setting out, first of all, its a case of being on the scaffold taking correct measurements of the stone, and say if the stones was in such a bad state of decay, then youd have to find maybe stones, beside it maybe, and youve got to take all of the details, and then once youve got all the relevant information, then you come back up to our drawing room, set out the drawing on paper, and once this is happened, then you apply plastic or zinc metal to create templates, and then once there done, you then go back and check if they fit the stone, and then once that off theyll be sent to the stone shop, and then with that , the correct stones will be cut, and then the templates can be applied to the stone, and then once the stone is worked, it can be taken up to the scaffold and then fixed to the building, Q. What motivates you to continue working as a stonemason? A. The motivation for continuing the work on the cathedral is, that it is my own input, and its our responsibility now in the 21st century, to leave Canterbury cathedral to the best state that we can for the future. Q. What do you want to achieve at the end of this course? A. At the end of this course Id like to achieve to be a great stonemason with a lot of skills to take me into the futures Q. How do you feel doing work thats contributing towards the cathedral? A. I feel that its a great opportunity to myself to be contributing work towards the cathedral, its such an important place, and such an historical place that Im kind of part of history if that makes sense Q. How do you get on with everybody that you work with? A. I get on with everyone absolutely fine, theres erm, theres a great work ethic at Canterbury cathedral, everyones, in time with each other, so yea its a great place to work and I enjoy it. Q. What do you guys get up to for lunchtime? A. erm, normally consists of playing cards, and thats pretty much it really A. at lunchtime at Canterbury, the masons normally play cards, and yea. Q. Do you guys hang out with each other outside of work? A. Yea, erm, a lot of us hangout a lot, after works hours, enjoy everyones company so, everyone gets along and were friends and yea, Q. Do you prefer working here as opposed to studying maybe at college? A. I would say yea, I do prefer working at Canterbury cathedral than studying in college because I feel, I enjoy working here more because, I enjoy the jobs that we get, and I feel like im contributing to something, then not really, because if I work stones at college there not going anywhere there just going to sit there then eventually be thrown away, so, I feel like Im doing something, for something when Im working at Canterbury cathedral A. yea I prefer studying at Canterbury cathedral, because I feel that you get more 1 on 1 treatment all the time at Canterbury, compared to

working at college, so basically you get to work with heads of each departments, so, I get to work with: if Im fixing and Ive got any problems then I go and see tony, then youve got the head of that department, and then youve got, if im struggling with masonry, then Ive got the master mason who will help me out, and show me any techniques , and then, the head draftsman is Darren, he can help me if im struggling with drawing, and you get to meet a lot of people who are incorporated in dead chapter of Canterbury cathedral, and you get to meet, the Rg, and you get to work alongside the architects and the important people who I really enjoy well.