Mackerel Window &
Fishy Story

This is a small window by Rosalind Grimshaw that was recently installed in Cornwall. Featured in this window is the beautiful 'Norman Slab' type of glass of which the studio has a special stock.

Breaking and fixing.........a tale of Fishy Glass

I had decided on the mackerel panel after the 14 months spent intensively on the Chester Cathedral window, it was small, uncontroversial and part of the payment was a badly needed weekend in a delightful Cornish cottage. It was the first window I had made from start to finish in our new studio and an opportunity to use some of my newly acquired magical Norman slab glass.

Finished and approved we set off at lunch time on a bright sunny Friday, the journey was a bit longer than anticipated, but still plenty of time till the 5 O'clock deadline, [[ at 5 O'clock , when at home, I take my Parkinson drugs have an hours rest,and watch the all important neighbours and home and away. ]] At this time darkness falls and with it the temperature, we had seen pockets of snow in the hedges. After going the wrong way down a one way street, we eventually found the cottage. The setting sun poured gold over the fishing boats far below at the bottom of the cliff, which we studied from the tiny terrace crammed with flower pots, one of which should have contained the key.

We did not panic at first, just searched methodically through every plant pot, then under and through and behind every stone. Then everything that moved or could be moved. The car was blocking the narrow one way street. We phoned the owner in Bristol ....... answer phone I I was beginning to seize and freeze - up, the people next door were no help. I suggested another phone call with perhaps a tad more urgency, or I would with desperation take one of the beautifully arranged stones or shells and break the glass in the door and just open it like they do on " The Bill ". Patrick who was by and large against this idea, and generally maintained an air of English - Middle - Class - don't - make -a - fuss - speak, that nearly drove me to an act of de- terracication. It was dark and cold, the security lights kept flashing off/on. Patrick went to the street blocking car and fetched my coat and his tool box, we began to work on removing the georgian wired glass from the bathroom window, the main problem was that even if we managed to remove the glass, would either of us be able to get through the gap! Patrick chiselled on in a measured way, in the dark I' m feeling my way through worms, wood lice, snails and a positively Attenborough range of the slimiest and ugliest of God's creatures, The window was in two sections, having removed the glass,, Patrick felt inside and found the lock, our hope was to open the whole window and to climb through, if it was a security lock with a key, or did not open enough............ It would be violence or Hypothermia !

Patrick found an old fashioned mechanical lock and began to unscrew it, standing on the plastic dustbin, Patrick leaned through and removed the delicate blue glass fish, shell and candle collection, and put them with now disarrayed cairns and driftwood set - pieces. Holding the window, I watched as Patrick dived dolphin like into the basin, then emerged and tried it the other way. The protruding metal locks looked hungry and viscious, but he landed safely on the bathroom floor, came round and let me in.
Some time later the phone rang, and the exact location of the key was revealed. We fixed the window he next day, it looked stunning, but we need not have worried they did not have channel 5 so I wouldn't have seen " Home and Away " anyhow.

RG 10/11/01