The Boat Builders - Dave ‘Curly’ Bolwell - Foreman Shipwright

Curly came to Berthon as an Apprentice Joiner 35 years ago. He left school to start an apprenticeship with a different Boat company but they went bust within 2 days of him starting. He had liked Woodwork at school he had a really inspiring teacher who also taught him to carve and offered him a job making Gypsy Caravans, but Curly had been determined to do an apprenticeship.

Joinery is still Curly’s favourite aspect of the job, particularly furniture making. He explained that it was always a pleasure when a cabin required fitting out, because then he could use his cabinet making skills. We talked about how jobs like that were less common and that the workforce worked across many different disciplines.

We also discussed the acquisition of skills, which come only from working with materials and how the class room is no substitute. Young people generally don’t have the skill level that he left school with because there is less access to workshops and materials and also more competition for their time. He explained that as an apprentice he was always making small items in his spare time and how this developed his skill. We continued this conversation with his colleague Mark Redfern who told a lovely story of a Tray he had made many years ago as part of his apprenticeship that his wife was clearing out but that his daughter had kept as a treasured possession.

In the picture I have made of Curly he is making repairs, carefully replacing rotten wood with new, looking along the line to check his work. I felt some part of his experience and his wealth of knowledge was captured in that moment.

The Boat Builders a new body of work by Emily Jo Gibbs for solo exhibition in the spring 2020.

This new series of portraits documents Foreman and their Apprentices working at Berthon Boatyard in Lymington. Highlighting the Value of Making and the importance of skilled labour. A celebration of people who prefer a hands-on approach, whose knowledge and skill is gained through the doing, learnt through making.

St Barbe Museum and Gallery, Lymington, SO41 9BH

NEW DATES 15 January - 26 February 2022

This project is being supported by Arts Council England.