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Steve Critchley

I spent 12 years in the Royal Logistic Corps and Royal Army Ordnance Corps, before being retired on medical grounds in 2004. I then spent a few years trying different things to fight the boredom.

I came across an article on the club in the Calne Town Crier magazine and looked at this website. Having joined early last year, and tentatively started with Tuesday evenings. I am now a regular and have not looked back since.

I intended to carve but seem to be building on my pyrography, which I started few years before I joined the club, doing simple designs on wood. I have now progressed to more complex designs and pictures, often as commissions, as well as lending a hand with a variety of other projects taking place around me. My varied career is apparently quite useful in the workshop!

Having suffered from anxiety and depression before joining the club, I have now turned a corner and have really benefited from interacting with the other members who are a friendly and inclusive bunch.

Carved and painted sign in oak

Maori fish design
Fallen angel – pyrography on oak

Walking stick detail
Owl – pyrography on oak