This article was originally posted in the Liverpool Echo on 28th February 2021
Raymond Jones has been the proud owner of the shop since 1984 – like many, he has struggled during the pandemic
Wood turner Raymond Jones at his shop on Wavertree High Street (Image: Jason Roberts photography)
If you take a walk down Wavertree High Street you’ll find Ray Jones’ World of Wood Turning.
The hidden gem is the only surviving Georgian shop front in the city and has been home to a cobbler, a saddler and a boot dealer over the years.
Today, Raymond Jones from Knotty Ash is the proud owner of the shop, where he has run his wood turning business from since 1984.
We first spoke to Raymond back in February last year when he told us all about his business and how he restored the shop front back to its former glory.
A lot has changed since then due to the coronavirus pandemic and the impact it has had on businesses across the country.
With this in mind, we decided to find out what the last 12 months have been like for Raymond as we revisit his story a year on.
The only surviving Georgian shop on the Wavertree High Street. Photo Jason Roberts (Image: Jason Roberts photography)
Raymond told the ECHO: “When the first lockdown came everybody was just going out doing exercise. I only live a walk away from my shop so I came into my workshop and just pottered about.
“I could definitely not have just stayed at home watching daytime TV all day, it would have driven me mad.
“I like being here anyway, I wasn’t making a living but I made maybe a dozen children’s chairs.”
Driven by a passion for the craft which he hopes to pass on to others, Raymond runs work turning classes from his shop and has travelled all over the world to teach demonstrations including to Finland, America and across the UK.
These classes have had to be put on hold due to coronavirus restrictions, but his members have kindly offered to continue paying the membership fee to support him.
(Image: Jason Roberts photography)
Since June, Raymond said the shop has had a steady stream of business coming back in, with a lot of people doing renovation projects during lockdown.
He said: “From March through to June there was absolutely no work and then when June came it started to pick up.
“You actually don’t know what’s happening or what’s going to happen. Hopefully I can start the classes within the next month or so as the lockdown gets lifted.
“It’s a great group and they’ve all said they can’t wait to come back.”
Raymond first became a wood turner in 1958 and has made everything from spindles to clown faced clocks and legs for snooker tables in that time.
Wood turner Raymond Jones based in 102 High Street, Wavertree (Image: Jason Roberts photography)
In a previous interview with the ECHO, he said: “I’ve been a wood turner for 62 years now and I’ve been in the building for 35.
“I knew that I wanted to work with wood ever since I was 11 when I had my first wood working class in school.
“From then on I knew that’s exactly what I wanted to do and I got tools for every Christmas and Birthday after that, I didn’t want anything else.”
Raymond first moved to the premises on Wavertree High Street in 1984, and worked carefully to restore the shop front.
He said: “I restored the shop when I moved in because it was in a terrible state.
“The glass was smashed and the windows were falling apart so we restored the whole of the front of it which dates back to the late 18th century.”
The one thing about the business which Raymond said continues to confuse customers, is what a wood turner’s job really involves.
He said: “I only make things that are round.
“I’ve made all sorts over the years – spindles, rocking chairs, toilet roll holders and clown faced clocks.
“People still come in with things that are square and I have to say I don’t make things that are square because if you say you work with wood people think you work with all aspects of wood.
“But as a wood turner I only make things that are round.”
The historic building dates back to the 18th century (Image: Jason Roberts photography)
Raymond added: “For the last 35 years it’s been an exciting job. It’s interesting meeting lots of people and enjoying the company of others who have the same interests.
“I teach a class of nine. The youngest is her 30s but most of them are older people who are doing it as a hobby.
“Some of them have been coming for 10 years now. People don’t just come for one class and then leave, they stay because it’s like a club.”
“It’s been fantastic and long may it continue.”