LX Day Trip to Diss and Norwich, 11th June 2011

First stop was Gary Breeze’s modest but idyllic sprawl of home, workshop, out-house and boat-house. In the studio we could immediately see evidence of Gary’s diverse and innovative projects: a huge, deeply inscribed, pillar of hewn oak – ‘Seafarer’, a small lettered globe – the maquette for ‘Nine Satellites’; a bucket of laser-cut metal letters – leftovers from The Scottish Parliament Inscription. Dotted about the workshop garden were intriguing slabs of slate into which letters had been cut in reverse. These pieces, beautiful in their own right, provided the moulds for cast metal lettering, such as that used in the cloisters of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.

After refreshments it was off to Norwich Castle Museum where some of Gary’s work is on display. For me, this was a great opportunity to view again the three pieces of Welsh slate that make up ‘Thames Tributaries’. Based on old engravings of Billingsgate, the layer upon layer effect of the tightly packed buildings, carved in very shallow relief, echo the inherent characteristic of the slate; and the detailed, accurately observed, rigged ships in the foreground give the relief depth and realism. It was then our privilege to be let into a small auditorium where there is some painted lettering by Tom Perkins. The room itself has a low flatly arched ceiling and the lettering runs in one line, within moulding, along the two flanking walls. The quotations act as a true focal aid, leading you into the room, whilst also being extremely eye-catching. Painted by Tom and Gaynor Goffe together, it was Gaynor that picked the subtle hues of green, blue and purple, combined with glittering gold leaf.

We then continued on to Norwich Cathedral, firstly, to see David Holgate’s statues of St Benedict and Mother Julian of Norwich (the first woman ever to write a book in English). The statues’ features were based on actual local people; they occupy the niches of west porch, previously empty for hundreds of years. David then became our tour guide inside the cathedral, showing us so many examples of carved lettering, including his own and that of John Skelton, all the time regaling us with stories of his life and work in his city.

Anna Parker