Phill in focus over role as wheelwright
ANEW documentary follows the life and work of the only master wheelwright in the North and explores the working life of a wheelwright’s shop in Banks.
The Wheelright: The Craft of Generations shows the process of making and repairing wooden wheels and how the business keeps the traditional skill alive in a modern world.
Owner Phill Gregson, 36, is the fourth generation of his family to run the business, which started before WWI, and has been doing so for 16 years.
Phil said: “We do a lot of work for all over the UK for reenactments, travellers, wagon wheels, horse-drawn caravans, bicycle wheels, art projects.
“It’s very surprising what older vehicles are still in use.
“We’ve done work for TV and stuff with Channel 4 and for programmes such as the BBC Suffragettes programme and we’ve been featured on Countryfile.”
Phill’s passion and love of his craft shines through in the documentary and it’s easy to see his dedication to keeping the trade alive.
He said: “It’s a vocation really, more than a job. Of course, modern technology makes things faster, but it’s about the quality of the work we do and not compromising that.
“I’m one of only six qualified master wheelwrights in the UK, as you have to be in the trade continuously for over 10 years.
“I’m a yeoman of the Worshipful Company of Wheelwrights.
“I inspect carriages on behalf of Blackpool council. It’s like an MoT on a car, to make sure the carriages are safe for use and not a risk to the horse’s wellbeing.
“We mainly utilise modern technology in a social media way to help spread the word about what we do and keep the trade alive as much as we can.”
The documentary was made by Liverpool film-maker Sam Birch, 22, who left SAE Creative Media Institute in Liverpool in 2017 and now does freelance work.
He mainly works on promotional videos; this was his first documentary and became a passion project for him. He found out about the business through his sister’s friend and thought it would be great material for a documentary.
Sam said: “When I heard about the work Phill was doing to maintain his family’s trade, I wanted to meet him. He was happy for me to document his work as he saw it as a bridge from his traditional world into the modern world.
“The longer I spent with Phill, the more engrossed I became in his lifestyle, his dedication to his craft (or trade, as he’d have it be known) and his talent.
“It was clear to me Phill knew all there was to know about wheelwrighting, however, it was my aim to make him think of his job in ways he perhaps had never thought of before.
“Phill’s a natural on camera, too, so the whole thing was a pleasure to film.”
Phill, his wife Emily and their two collies, Pepper and Penn, travelled to the south of France by horse and cart in August, 2017.
It was in honour of their daughter Elsie who was born with the rare mitochondrial disease but died a month after being born.
The journey was to raise funds for the charities who had helped the family through their ordeal.
Last week, the couple donated their hair to The Little Princess Trust to make wigs for children with hair loss through cancer and other illnesses.
For the future, Phill wants to turn his workshops into something of a working museum.
He said: “We want to try and educate people and keep wheelwrighting skills alive along with crafts in general. We run a live feed on Facebook on a Sunday evening from the workshop and we engage with people and they can ask questions.
“We’d like to do that at the site also, and run craft courses.”
To watch the documentary,, visit Vimeo @vimeo.com/ 353998208.