Apollo Stained Glass

I was very sad to hear the news from David’s partner Kathryn that David Meakin the owner / manager of The Stained Glass Shop in Wandsworth and later The Stained Glass House in Twickenham died a few years ago.

Back in 1998, having written to countless stained glass studios it was David who replied and took up my offer of a trade of skills – a website for stained glass training. I was no computer expert but back in those days a little knowledge could be an impressive thing and as the first website took shape I learnt the basics. I knew the second I walked in to that bustling, busy shop on the one way system that this was the right job for me and it was David who enabled that opportunity, as he did for many others, many of whom didn’t have relevant skills but were hard working and keen to learn.

David operated an informal apprenticeship which was very thorough. You started in the cement shed, a shed in the back yard with 'Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here' written by a former employee! There you learnt to handle and cement all the panels that came through the shop. It taught you structural strength, use of different glasses, the many period and religious styles and the difference between old and new glasses. After your term in the cement shed you moved on to leading, cutting, customer care, drawing, shop management. One of the advantages of this small but phenomenally busy shop was that there were opportunities to learn other skills like fitting, painting, acid etching etc. Because the shop was both a workshop and a supplier of glass and metals to customers we quickly learnt the extensive range of glasses both old and new. The flexibility of this learning environment enabled many of our businesses to survive and flourish in tough times.

David was a quirky individual and entertaining manager. He had an extensive repertoire of old time music hall songs which enabled him to let off steam at random times of the day, often related to what was happening in the shop! One of his favourites he liked to sing to me was ‘Lydia The Tattooed Lady’ changing Lydia to Delia! David was a published poet but he didn’t like to talk about his past lives (of which there seemed to be many) instead offering snippets of intriguing information and outbursts of poetry. One of his favourites if you had been taking too long on a job was ‘He also serves who stands and waits’! There was always music on in the shop either radio or CDs like The Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks) and The Gypsy Kings, to which David loved to click his fingers and ole to!

The shop could be a stressful place with a lot of pressure on deadlines, different personalities and tempers could fly. Now that I have been running my own business for over 20 years I have a lot more sympathy with the frustrations of managing a business and how stressful it can be keeping the show on the road. What I most remember about David is that when he really upset me and I picked up my tool box and marched out the shop, he worked through the night to make me a bench that I could return to the next day. I really appreciated that and on being told about it duly marched back in the following day with my toolbox!

David had a great curiosity for anything and everything and was always keen to learn new things, often quizzing customers on their particular areas of knowledge. In the shop there was a seemingly endless cupboard full of discarded gadgetry mainly cameras that were the next best thing (for a month or so!) and guitars of which David seemed to be a proficient and beautiful player but who didn’t like to play to people offering again only snippets.

David had a sister Angela who he was very fond of who he had lost contact with. He often talked of getting in touch with her again but as far as I know this sadly never occurred.

David ran a highly respected and successful business that was used by architects, glaziers, religious institutions, the building trade, individuals and organisations in this country and abroad. He was a talented designer and was able to keep standards very high due to having good people working for him who kept on top of quality and trained new people. Many of the people that trained / worked in the shop went on to run their own successful businesses or make stained glass for pleasure, here are just a few of these people;

Jim and Natasha - https://www.peacocksstainedglass.co.uk/

Flora Jamieson - https://www.florajamieson.co.uk/

Nicky Greene – London Stained Glass Centre

Susie Parkes – maker of beautiful bespoke panels.

Kathryn Handscombe – glass painter.

Sergei Tchachenko – went on to work for Hardmans, later returned to the Ukraine.

Matt Reed - https://www.mattreedartist.com/selected-work

Alan Tyfa - https://www.facebook.com/alan.tyfa/

After leaving the shop to start my own business we kept in touch and David continued to refer work to me and to help with advice on complex jobs. I think about those times in the shop often and the highs and the lows and will miss him in the world.