Blade runners
Cavalry blades, carved hilts, ceremonial swords and leather scabbards can all be found in the Pooley Sword workshops, where both weapons and history are made, discovers Nick Hammond
Nick Hammond is enthralled by the Pooley Sword workshop
FROM the glittering scimitar of a turbaned Sinbad to the elegant lines of an artillery officer’s blade, swords are the stuff of boyhood dreams and Robert Pooley—who is no spring chicken at 84—still exudes boyish enthusiasm for them. He scuttles between the workshops of Pooley Sword, at Shoreham Airport in East Sussex, dropping battle dates and ancient ceremonial designs like breadcrumbs as he goes.
He also tells the story of a remarkable business he started from nothing. ‘Yes,
I suppose it does sound a bit crazy on the face of it,’ the octogenarian admits over lunch in a delightful Art Deco cafe alongside the runway, ‘but I do like a challenge.’
Quite so. Having left the RAF in the late 1950s, Mr Pooley initially made his name in
aviation, founding Pooleys Flight Equipment. Today, it’s run by his son, Sebastian, and is still a world leader in equipment, tuition books and a long-running series of flight guides.
However, it’s swords that make Mr Pooley’s eyes twinkle. When most people would be looking forward to a quiet retirement, he announced, on his 70th birthday, that he was moving into sword-making. Illogical, perhaps; unwise, even—but his love for military matters and the demise of sword-making at the Wilkinson Sword factory in Acton, in 2005, spurred him into action.
Until then, Wilkinson had made the military and Commonwealth’s commemorative swords—a massive, convoluted and complicated worldwide undertaking. It took lobbying from Mr Pooley, painstaking research and an acceptance of nothing but the best before Pooley Sword began picking up contracts and took Wilkinson’s place as a purveyor of fine ceremonial swords.
The picturesque Abbeydale forge, near Sheffield in South Yorkshire, creates the hardened steel needed. Using power provided by the waters of the River Sheaf, the blades are shaped, then ground and shipped south. Here, the dedicated team of Pooley craftsmen, led by head cutler Peter Harmsworth—originally of Wilkinson Sword— begins a bewildering array of techniques and processes to transform dull metal into gleaming weaponry.
Etching may have progressed since the swords were originally designed in the 19th and 20th centuries, but the designs themselves haven’t. Each and every one must remain true to its original. That requires a rigid quality-control process.
‘We have people bringing us their ancient family heirlooms,’ continues Mr Pooley, as we work our way through the workshops, showrooms and design studios that make up the beating heart of Pooley Sword. ‘We renovate and repair swords, as well as making new ones, and you have to realise you’re dealing with people’s lives here: family ties, lost relatives, significant dates, treasured memories. You can’t afford to get that wrong.’
‘It can be quite emotional, actually,’ agrees Jane Sheridan, who runs the office and is the point of contact for families who bring in swords for repair and renovation. ‘When they’re presented with the finished sword— which we ensure is handed back to them as good as new—it’s a very proud moment for us and often an emotional one for them. We often remain in touch and it’s a lovely thing to be involved with.’
Precision inking and delicate handpainting of ceremonial blades takes place at Shoreham, together with the addition of a variety of stingray grips, brass-eagle pommels, cartouches and accompanying scabbards, sheaths, belts, bags, buckles and badges. It’s an extraordinary process, littered with intricacies, crucial inclusions and minor hieroglyphics with major meaning.
The historical roll call and military terminology here are head-spinning, but Mr Pooley remains on top of it, cracking jokes with fellow workers here, describing in intricate detail the scrollwork on a Royal Ghurka Rifle’s sword there.
‘Oh, it’s a passion,’ he declares. ‘I absolutely love it. There’s nothing quite like it. I’m always on the move, presenting swords, giving talks and learning something new every day.’
That’s why you’ll find him at Sandhurst or other military schools and colleges throughout the UK, at prize-givings, passingout parades, local club meets and more. He criss-crosses Britain with a boot full of swords and flies around the world—‘at the back,’ he’s at pains to explain—visiting Commonwealth armies, navies and air forces of countries from New Zealand to Australia, Canada and Tonga to Jamaica.
When he’s away, his colleagues in the Shoreham workshops work quietly and diligently, re-creating a little bit of the past and presenting a newly qualified officer with a small piece of his or her future.
‘We’re making history, do you see?’ Mr Pooley enthuses energetically in the Pooley library and showroom, a treasure trove of military wonders, including swords created for royalty and every type of ceremonial blade you can imagine.
‘That’s what’s so incredible. Every one of these swords has a story to tell. It’s our job to help tell it and keep this long line of history unbroken. I think that’s worth something.’
You’re dealing with people’s lives: family ties, lost relatives, treasured memories