The tube doesn’t serve Stoke Newington, city of about 10 kilometres north of London; but for those willing to train it (from London Liverpool Street) or bus it (67, 73, 76, 106, 149, 243 and 393 stop outside Abney Park), you’ll find yourself in one of London’s leafiest boroughs and among unique bohemian community.
But that’s not all Stoke Newington (Stokey to the locals) is known for.
Down mews off Stoke Newington Church Street (London’s longest street
name) lovely street filled with
globemaking in North London.
BELLERBY CO boutiques, flower shops, vintage stores, patisseries and cafes sits an unassuming building. Stand long enough outside and you’ll find about 20 to 30 workers going in and out at any given time. Among them: furniture makers, handbag designer, architects, art directors, journalists and painters. The scene makes for good Arthur Conan Doyle premise but, the reality is even more intriguing. This is the epicentre and final bastion of one of the few globemakers left in the world Bellerby Co.
Despite the flurry of activities on the outside, the workshop big beautiful open space and full of light is study in quiet focus and preservation. There is asmall team of six busily working
daily at various stations. Everyone
comes from diverse creative and artistic backgrounds. All around them are halfmade worlds, finished globes waiting to be mounted, strips of gore (painted Paper) pegged across the room to dry, pots of brushes and paints, and more odd-sized spherical balls than one has ever seen. The workshop is now bit chilly, but come summer, the studio opens into rooftop terrace and becomes place to mingle after work. The high ceilings and huge windows make for beautiful and inspiring setting. Everyone is very
friendly with each other and collaborates
on projects from time to time. The
camaraderie is unmistakable. They borrow things from each other, ask opinions on their work and exchange advice on the
best way to do something,
Amidst this friendly atmosphere sits Peter Bellerby, kind of Jedi Master to his team of Padawans. self-starter, Bellerby had no interest in globemaking other than his high school fascination for maps and cartography. But frustrated quest trying to gift his father the perfect globe for his
birthday would the option of where Borneo
change all that. Faced with lazy version of globe, island appears as blob
onthe map, or an antique that has long passed its use, Bellerby decided the way to go was to build his own globe. That was
Today, the globes made by Bellerby Co are valued for its bespoke design, modelled on couple made in the War for Churchill and Roosevelt, and meticulous attention to detail. It takes pride in having revolutionised globe
design that sits on roller bearings,
allowing for fluid movement that was not possible with the traditional axle and meridian methods. Every bit from the painstaking process of papering to the detailed shading and painting is done by hand. The former is the most arduous part because working with wet paper requires you to train your body and move your hands very slowly ensuring there are no creases, overlaps or tear. If any of that happens, the goring process starts all over again. It’s easy to understand why trainee normally requires good
half of the year to master this skill
And, it is not uncommon for the team to collaborate especially when it’s big project. Bellerby remains very hands-on with the craft and the business. He trains his team to re-learn parts of globemaking that had been lost for centuries. He passes on the lessons his learnt so that this limited edition craft continues. For even after all this while, there remains no available
training on this artisanal trade.
In aworld where GPS and Google maps seemed to have taken over, Bellerby Co’s globes are pleasant reminder that handcrafted globes remain in existence, letting us to daydream of faraway places
and romanticise this world of ours.
Royal Brunei Airlines flies London daily via Dubai.
Source: MUHIBAH, the Royal Brunei Airlines in-flight magazine, 2016 Jan-Feb, pages 10-15. Text recovered from the scanned page by OCR and lightly corrected; spelling may differ from the printed edition.
