Cornwall will host the start of the prestigious Tour of Britain cycling event on 5th September 2021 and we were excited that Cut By Beam was chosen to design and make the ‘Saint Piran’s’ trophy for the Grand Depart stage of the race.
With an emphasis on using locally sourced wood from a managed woodland, we spoke to Tom Kemp from Working Woodlands Cornwall. He suggested we use a piece of oak from Devichoys Wood, which he manages for Cornwall Wildlife Trust, which happens to be on the race route near Falmouth.
He gave us three options and we chose one with the most interesting characteristics; markings we knew would add a special quality to the finished award.
Looking at the rings, the chosen piece is estimated to be around 50 years old.
We asked local wood turner, Thane Osborne, to machine it into a cylinder.
The client, Cornwall Council, gave us a fairly loose spec, but had briefed us on some essential elements they wanted to feature on the finished design, including a map of Cornwall and the St. Piran's flag.
Lynn designed and created the digital artwork in a format ready to etch on to the wood.
Once etched, using the rotary attachment on our laser cutter, we hand finished the award with water-based paints, inks and nourishing wood oils.
Cut By Beam are keen to make more sustainable trophies such as this one. As well as being so much more pleasing to cherish and display, we like to think that our end products have minimal impact on the environment in their making. Even our workshop is run on sustainable heating and locally generated power.
We are looking forward to watching the Tour Of Britain and seeing who gets to hold aloft the trophy we made for the Grand Depart at Cut By Beam.
More background information on the source of the original wood can be found in this lovely video featuring Working Woodlands.