Behind the scenes

It has, of course, been said and written countless times in recent weeks but we truly are living through a time like no other before it.

With an unseasonably warm Easter weekend just passed and two more bank holidays coming up, the streets of Grassington, in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, are deserted as would-be tourists heed the advice to stay at home.

Just up the road from the village it is a similarly silent picture, too, as the workshops of Royal Oak Furniture, usually alive with the sounds and distinctive smell of woodworking, are presently at a standstill like so many other workplaces.

That, however, does not mean things have come to a halt altogether, for behind the scenes work continues to ensure the business is in the very best shape to meet customers’ needs as soon as it is in a position to do so.

Joanne Kent, one of the family who established and run the bespoke furniture business, says: “While the workshop isn’t currently open, we’re still working on designs, drawings and quotations.

“That means we can be off to a flying start once we can get the cabinet makers safely back to work again. Obviously we can’t build anything just yet but customers are more than welcome to contact us now with their ideas and requests, so we can begin the preliminary parts of the design and manufacturing process.”

Royal Oak has been creating beautiful bespoke furniture for more than 40 years, during which time the results of its handiwork have found their way into everything from country cottages to the apartments at 10 Downing Street.

This breadth of customers reflects the fact that Royal Oak’s craftsmen are equally adept at creating intricately-decorated traditional pieces or bold, contemporary designs: everything from timeless farmhouse tables to sleek mid-century inspired walnut and oak cabinets.

The company’s aim is to create whatever furniture a customer wishes, starting from as little as an outline idea or a rough sketch, and then working with the client to create their perfect piece.

Each piece of furniture made at Royal Oak starts the same way: English timber, whenever possible, arrives at the workshop with the bark still intact. There it is matched for grain and colour before the team of craftsmen set to work to get the very best out of each piece of wood.

The results look amazing and they are built to last, too, with time-honoured techniques, such a dovetail and mortise and tenon joints matched with modern methods to create quality furniture.

Once life returns to something near normal and the beauty of the Yorkshire countryside is once again available to us all, head for a day in the Dales and combine it with a visit to the Royal Oak showroom, where impressively-built room sets provide potential customers with an idea of the kind of furniture the company produces.

In the meantime, for ideas and inspiration go to www.royaloakfurniture. co.uk or telephone 01756 753378 for an initial discussion of your wishes.

Royal Oak Furniture is working to keep meeting the needs of its customers.

Customers are more than welcome to contact us now with their ideas

and requests…