Month: November 2020

(We are grateful to Doreen Clark, James Bambridge’s sister for the information provided in this post. She has written to us from Kirk Ella, East-Riding of Yorkshire.) Here then is the Master Builder revisited, Part One.

Jim was born inTooting, a district in south London on February 10, 1928. As a lad he enjoyed swimming and diving, sang soprano in the choir, played the bugle and took up fencing. For pocket money, he and brother Ted would go to Tooting Market and get empty wooden crates. They chopped them into small pieces and sold the bundles door to door in the neighborhood for kindling. When he reached 14 years of age the family decided that he would follow older brother Ted into an apprenticeship at an electrical engineering firm. Jim announced, however, the he was going to Trollope & Colls and gain an apprenticeship there. He also attended evening classes at the Brixton School of Building.

As an apprentice he had to take exams and was delighted as he’d gained a first. The piece was a small headstone with a Celtic cross. He was now a third generation stone mason.

Off To Work

When sister Doreen was 8 or 9 years old, her parents took her to the cinema. “The News” came on first and there on the screen was Salisbury Cathedral. There was a group of 3 or 4 masons and there in front was Jim. She shouted, “Mum look, there’s Jim!” She was so excited to see him.

Jim was happy when he was working, but frustrated that when he applied for a position he got the same answer, you are too young for that job. So, much to his parents surprise he came home one day to tell them he’d bought a ticket on the Queen Mary, and was off to the States.

“Over there you would be given the job, age not considered, not with my credentials”

-James Bambridge

Jim settled in Hamilton, Ontario, married and had plenty of work. He eventually returned to the UK and lived in Putney. His chisel has been applied to the most historic of buildings including:

• Mansion House, London – Home and Office of the Lord Mayor of London
• Lambeth Palace London – Residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury
• Buckingham Palace, London – Repairing war damage
• The Houses of Parliament
• Christopher Wren’s spire on St. Dunstan’s
• St. Johns Cathedral, Newfoundland – Restoration of North America’s oldest cathedral
• Liverpool Cathedral – Ten years at Liverpool, it completed in 1978
• Wells Cathedral

Unknown to him, emissaries from St. John the Divine had sought him out, looked him over, and asked about him. He was busy on the west front of Wells Cathedral when he was invited to travel to New York.

Next Week, the rest of the Master Builder revisited story…

The photo above showcases Angel’s ability and artistry as a stone cutter. Angel Escobar’s journey from the streets of Harlem to Lead Cutter for Cathedral Stoneworks is one of perseverance and personal pride.

In his own words…”I never thought I would be working for this church. When I was small, I used to look at the church from way down there, from East 112th Street, and wonder what that big thing was. I was hanging out on the streets a lot by the time I was in my teens. My mother had died, and I dropped out of school. I had to do for myself.

Then I heard about this street gang, the Renegades. Me, I didn’t like being in the street. So when I heard the Renegades had given up their chains and stopped fighting to do something for the community, I found out about it. There was a housing training program on the Lower East Side that got kids off the streets. The people who ran the program wanted to save a lot of tenement buildings in the neighborhood. I joined up as soon as I dropped out of school, and got training and a job remodeling those old cold water flats.

On to the Cathedral

It was a good training program. Professionals taught each trade: sheet rocking, carpentry, masonry, plumbing, bricklaying, stucco, cement, wall. I got my mason’s certificate there and did bricklaying for four years. But the man I was working for went broke, and he recommended that I apply to the Cathedral’s building program. I started out here as a trainee. For two years I moved stones, stacked stones, drove the crane and the forklifts. Heavy work, but it was just a beginning.

I’ve been here ten years now. Stonecutting is a lot different than mortaring brick. At the beginning I used to get angry when I couldn’t get it right. It takes about five to six months to get down the use of the hammer, punching. I was in the carving shed for three years, learning how to carve. I like the skill, working with your hands and your mind. I’ve done all sorts of stones here, so many.

Ten years ago, I was really surprised when they accepted me. I thought, wow, I’m going to cut stone? On that building up there on the hill across town? And now I’m lead cutter, teaching the apprentices, and still learning.” Angel Escobar’s journey from Harlem is one he takes enormous pride in.

• Angel Escobar’s words are from the Cathedral Stoneworks personnel profiles.