I've been a coppersmith since 1991, after a four-year forge apprenticeship. I make bespoke copperwork, take private commissions and exhibit at shows and galleries.

The rarity of my craft inspired my Churchill Fellowship. I went to France, Greece and India to meet craftspeople and learn traditional techniques, as well as the ancient origins and modern contexts of coppersmithing. Preservation of tacit knowledge had become a prominent issue – and when the Heritage Crafts Association (HCA) produced the Red List of Endangered Crafts in 2015, they found only six coppersmiths.

I began a PhD in archaeology in 2018, recording the unacknowledged history of female metalworkers and contributing my coppersmithing skills to ongoing experimental archaeometallurgy research. In 2019 I represented Great Britain at the first UNESCO International Festival of Handicrafters in Uzbekistan and learned about wider ideas for protecting intangible cultural heritage.

I aim to consolidate these strands of knowledge in a way that will make coppersmithing more widely known and practised. There is a growing interest in crafts and people are keen to learn. My Fellowship taught me the value of my knowledge as a craftsperson and also the joy of sharing it.