Glassblower Tom, 78 in royal date for MBE
Proud to meet Prince William
Stirling glassmaker Tom Young has been presented with an MBE by Prince William at Buckingham Palace.
Mr Young, co-founder of family firm Angels’ Share Glass, received the honour to mark his long service to the glassmaking industry.
He was named an MBE in the New Year Honours List and travelled to London, with his daughter Karen Somerville and son Stephen Young, to meet the Duke of Cambridge.
Mr Young, from Bridge of Allan, was among several honours recipients whose outstanding achievements were recognised during the Investiture in the Palace Ballroom.
They included former Olympic Heptathlon champion Jessica EnnisHill who was made a Dame, actor Mark Rylance who was knighted and Victoria Beckham, who was honoured with an OBE.
The 78-year-old said: “It was a wonderful experience and an amazing day which I will remember for the rest of my life.
“Prince William congratulated me and was asking me about how a person becomes a glassblower and I was able to tell him a little about how I got started.
“I met lots of interesting people over the day and there were a few other Scottish folk wearing their kilts which was lovely.
“It was a very proud day for me and great to be there with my son and daughter.”
Mr Young was granted the honour in recognition of his services to the glassmaking industry.
During a long career, he was one of the first two Scots to be named `Master Craftsman’ by the British Society of Scientific Glassblowers in 1977 and was a founding member of the Scottish Glass Society.
He began work as an apprentice glassmaker aged 16 learning the technical skills to create scientific glassware and working for firms which supplied scientific instruments.
In 1967, he took up a post at Stirling University working for all its science departments while also developing his own creative skills - setting up a home workshop and producing unusual glass gifts.
With the help of his wife Bette, who died in January following a long illness, Mr Young began selling his creations at craft fairs before establishing his own business - Village Glass in Bridge of Allan. He officially `retired’ in 2011 before returning to work a few years later to launch Angels’ Share Glass – and its signature line of whisky-filled glass angels - with his daughter Karen.
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