Some years ago I 'discovered' one of those things that is utterly delightful and that you feel would have been poorer for not knowing about it.
I walked into the beautiful home of Kevin and Theresa Leeper in Knaphill, Surrey, and saw, for the first time, a little mouse carved on the side of a table leg. It was a Robert Thompson mouse -- and it was beautiful!
Robert 'Mousey' Thompson (1876 - 1955) was a British furniture maker who worked in Kilburn, North Yorkshire, manufacturing oak furniture. The origin of the mouse is said to have happened accidentally. Robert Thompson and another craftsman were carving a huge cornice for a screen and the other craftsman happened to say something about being as poor as a church mouse. Robert Thompson carved a mouse there and then and it struck him as a lovely trade mark. This was in 1919 and the mouse quickly became his trademark and it is this now world famous `logo' that makes the furniture, whether it be a church pulpit, a fireplace or a dining table, instantly recognisable as the work of the Mouseman of Kilburn.the mouse has stayed until the present day. His company still exists and is now known as "Robert Thompson's Craftsmen Ltd - The Mouseman of Kilburn"
Recently, years after the discovery of my first Thompson mouse, I friend of mine showed me two beautiful writing boxes that her father had lovingly and expertly restored to their original perfect state. The craftsmanship was exquisite, and as the daughter of a man who restored antique furniture with the skill and authenticity of a master craftsman, I recognised the excellence of this man's work. So it was with joy and pleasure that I got to meet this man - Alan Haigh, a retired maths and science teacher and then headmaster, breaks all the rules of left brain/right brain-, art vs science-, logic vs dreamer theories. His 'official' field is mathematics and science, but his interests cover every spectrum imaginable --- from Motown and progressive music (who knows another 80+ year old who could DJ a hip disco tonight with just the music he has on his Apple Mac at home alone??) to meticulously restoring falling-apart bits of furniture -- and, because he too loves Thompson's carved mice, but because 'he is slow --- because he CAN be'!, Alan has started carving little snails on his work!
Just as years ago I 'discovered' the Thompson carved mice on furniture --- that I would have been poorer for not knowing about, just so, in meeting Alan Haigh, I feel again as if I had 'discovered' someone quite special and unique-- a true Renaissance man -- and who also carves little snails ..........and my life would have been poorer without the encounter.
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