The 1960s were crucial years in many ways. As we have seen, they marked the beginning of a long and, at times, painful association with cast iron. And they saw the introduction of perhaps his two most famous tableware ranges, Bistro (above), designed with an eye to the 'casual living' idea with rosewood handles immaculately riveted to high-grade steel; and Alveston, named after the village near Stratford upon Avon where he and his wife Patricia had established the family home in 1958, a contribution to the even more powerful concept of the time,'elegant living'. Alveston, a range that emerged from a Design Council seminar at which Robert was invited to lecture on cutlery design, turned out to be among the most successful examples of high quality cutlery ever produced. Embracing a tea service and holloware as well as table cutlery, servers and carving set, it sold more than 4 million pieces in twenty years.