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Harry and the Recycled Spiral Stairs – A Christmas Feel-Good Story
Harry Wright, 86, has a chuckle just how you would imagine Santa reacts when talking about making gifts for people.
Harry may be missing the beard, but not the generosity of spirit – he has hand-crafted hundreds of props for various local pantomimes, churches and displays over the three decades he has lived in Cornwall. When bespoke staircase manufacturer Spiral UK heard Harry’s story, they realised they could help…
The price of timber in a post-pandemic economy has gone through the roof, and as part of our sustainability practices we are always careful to manage our material resources, reusing and recycling where possible, so this seemed like a great opportunity to help Harry out and give a second life to a raw material
Harry and wife Marion live in Helston, just down the road from Spiral UK’s manufacturing facility HQ so Marketing Manager, Katie, went to visit them and deliver a van full of oak retrieved from a demolition job as well as some hardwood spiral tread samples that had no further use – until Harry works his magic, that is.
Previously in the RAF, a farmer and an electrician, their bungalow is filled with things Harry has made as a hobby, from the grandfather clock in the hall, to side tables and lamps – “he seems to breed lamps”, quipped Marion. Photo albums are filled with his history of philanthropy, always made by repurposing other items such as the coffee table made from an old wardrobe and one of the many lamps from a billiards table leg; a kaleidoscope with integrated (faux) flick knife for a production of Oklahoma, a tommy gun for Bugsy Malone, a stunning Gramophone for My Fair Lady and a 9ft crocodile for Peter Pan, that lived in the front garden to the amusement of the neighbours.
His favourite make? The ‘politician’, he chuckles, and shows off a clever little thingummybob that when you turn the handle, “It goes round and round but ultimately achieves nothing…” Marion recalls the story of making a wooden leg for a friend, with shrieks of hilarity raising eyebrows when the first fitting took place in the bedroom!
Nothing goes to waste, with the tiniest of offcuts expertly turned into bobbins, earrings and teeny tiny little cups in Harry’s fantastically organised garage-cum-workshop, the birthplace of working spinning wheels, mangles, pretend guns, antique telephones, gongs, cots and even an oversized Dyson.
All at Spiral are looking forward to seeing what becomes of the old stairs and hopefully spotting them in a local performance next year!