We were invited by Bolton Museums Service to demonstrate how traditional stained glass windows are made and repaired at the Smithills Hall Live Crafts Day. I spent an enjoyable time showing the many visitors how to cut coloured stained glass to the intricate shapes before joining the individual pieces using I section lead came. I also provided materials for children to 'have a go' at creating their own small window using coloured film and lead.  I am constantly surprised by the interest in traditional crafts by the general public. I have also been asked to teach a stained glass window making class at the Hall in September. It will be great to teach the course and also take a tour around the historic building that I have helped to maintain over the years with numerous stained glass windows in need of repair and restoration. We have also protected all the windows in the Chapel using thick polycarbonate plastic. This gives extremely good protection of the windows and does not spoil the appearance of the beautiful painted glass.  The only way to offer better protection would be double or triple glaze the stained glass as we do for domestic stained glass and leaded lights.

Passing on my passion for stained glass is one of the best bits about my work. I have just started a project with Knowsley Council called 'Look to the Future: Celebrate Our Past'. The concept of the project is to introduce school children to traditional construction skills. I will be teaching in five primary and secondary schools in Knowsley near Liverpool. I give a talk and demonstration that gives an understanding of how stained glass windows are made then I get the children involved by giving them the chance to design and make a small stained glass overlay window using shapes cut from coloured film, applied to a sheet of clear polycarbonate and then contoured using lead strips. The results have been fantastic with the project really catching the children's imagination.

During the first demonstration I asked the class if they could tell me what the black lines between the glass were made from, pointing to the lead. One 8 years old little girl's hand was up straight away, "Eeerrrr, is it tarmac?" she answered. I had to hide my smile at the innocent reply, "That's a good answer but your not right" I said.

I have more school projects to look forward to with schools in the Midlands and Derbyshire to visit this month. What with that and our stained glass window making courses and classes filling up quickly I think I will be spending most of the year giving tuition, which is great. I hope to inspire others  to take up the wonderful craft that has given me so much pleasure over the years.

The painting of stained glass is a constant pleasure to me. We recently made a new stained glass window for St Patrick's Church in Rochdale, Manchester with some beautiful figures designed by a member of the church.

The paint has to be carefully prepared on a glass pallet. The powdered glass is combined with gum arabic and water then mixed using a flexible pallet knife. Once the glass paint is ground together it is ready to be applied to to the glass using a long haired rigger brush. The outlines or 'tracelines' are painted on first. They then need to be fired in the kiln at 720 deg C. The next stage is to apply the shading by painting a 'matt' all over the glass and stippling it with a special brush. Once it is dry it can be slowly removed to create depth to the image.

We have also recently got a couple of Victorian stained glass windows with broken painted pieces in need of repair. We are going to repaint the pieces to match the originals and then relead the windows to return them to their former glory. This is exactly the type of work we specialise in and I am looking forward to the challenge to reproduce the work of the original artist.

We have been really busy with triple glazing of old leaded light windows and stained glass. It has become a very popular way to retain the character of a home and increasing the security, insulation and value of the property. Carl and I worked at two houses in Manchester recently to carefully remove the stained glass and temporarily reglaze the old frames. We now have the stained glass panels in the studio were we will clean them, repair any cracked glass and then put on a new border lead. Then finally the dust is blown off using compressed air and they are encapsulated into double or triple glazed units. We are working closely with a small firm of traditional joiners who are making new hardwood window frames to match the originals then they will fit our triple glazed stained glass units to complete the conservation of the property's period character. This work gives me a great deal of satisfaction to see a lovely old house back to its former glory.

The repair, releading and restoration of old broken stained glass is always an enjoyable challenge.

We recently repaired a Victorian stained glass door panel at a house in Manchester which had many cracked pieces of coloured glass. When I am considering how to best tackle a new stained glass window repair I am looking for the best order in which to replace the pieces. I always cut the biggest pieces of coloured glass first and that way I am sure to have enough glass left to cut the small bits from the off cuts.

A bit like life, if you fit in the biggest most important things into you schedule first then you will find time for the smaller jobs in the gaps. But if you run around busy with the small thing the big ones never get done.

One of the intricate shapes ( pictured ) looked like a candle stick and was particularly difficult to cut from the antique cathedral amber coloured glass. Once it was carefully inserted into place it was difficult to tell it had been replaced. I get a great deal of satisfaction seeing a beautiful stained glass window restored back to its former glory.

I have been very pleased with the continued interest in our stained glass courses and classes with the next two basic stained glass courses being fully booked. We are considering running additional classes so if you are interested please let us know. I enjoy giving tuition in stained glass window making and showing beginners how to make stained glass for the first time. I have found that everyone who has come on the courses have been able to make a lovely window with a little encouragement.