Wood You Believe It?

An apple a day… but sometimes Gary Rance will get through 100 or more, courtesy of a skill he developed after tossing a coin as a teenager.

- Sandra Smith

HERE’S a question for you. What do Prince Andrew, Geoffrey Palmer and the Duke of Westminster have in common? No idea? Let me throw So the bys and Harrods into the mix to see if that helps. I reckon this conundrum might be spinning you into such a frenzy you hardly know which way to turn.

Yes, that was my way of sneaking in a couple of final clues but if you still haven’t worked out the common denominator, allow me to introduce Gary Rance, a woodturner with a host of prestigious clients and who is known amongst his peers as the fastest and most accurate turner in the country.

“That’s quite an accolade,” Gary quietly acknowledges. “If I start to do something, I finish the whole lot. The other day I created 100 apples. I just switch off and listen to the radio because of the repetitiveness. I’ve made 500 doorknobs for one of The Duke of Westminster’s houses, and another commission – a telescope from oak from HMS Victory – was presented to Prince Andrew.”

And Geoffrey Palmer, I pry? “He rang and asked to come round and see me as he wanted doorknobs for his kitchen. When he arrived I said, ‘I recognise you from somewhere.’ ‘Probably on the box,’ he replied.”

Little fazes this laid back, gentle man. From his elevated home, overlooking fields and with Wendover Woods in sight, he walks me through a sunny conservatory to a long workshop in his garden where my senses absorb the sight, texture and aroma of wood. Industrial sized lathes, metal cabinets, hand tools and shelves brimming with storage boxes confirm that this is where creativity and manufacturing combine.

Yet woodturning wasn’t Gary’s original career choice. In fact he owes his successful profession to chance.