Historic street in Putney.

By Keith Langton

This was an exciting external project we worked on in a historic street in Putney. The street is known for its beautiful houses and special wall panels that show “The Pied Piper.” Every two houses have the same matching plaques, which help give the street its unique charm and character.

The house we were working on had lost its plaques when a new fascia was installed. Our job was to make new plaques that looked just like the originals, so the street would still look the same.

To do this, we needed to copy the plaques from nearby houses. We had to go “cold calling,” which means knocking on neighbours’ doors and asking them for help. We asked if we could make moulds of their plaques using silicone. This way, we could recreate the lost designs exactly.

Thankfully, the neighbours were kind and said yes. Sean Wheatley, who is amazing at what he does, helped me take the silicone moulds. It was raining, freezing cold, and we had to climb up a wobbly tower to reach the plaques. It was scary but fun, and we managed to get it done.

The finished results helped keep the look of the street alive. It felt great to work on something that protects the past while using creative tools.

Hand/cast brackets (large corbels)

Hand/cast brackets (large corbels) in Jesmonite (dolomite stone) for an external project showing the ‘jig’ used on the back for setting the SS rods for the install where we used 2-pack resin