My name is Graham Webb. My workshop, in Sheffield in South Yorkshire; a place  famous for being the most central part of England, is in an Edwardian building overlooking peak district moors to the front and Gillfield woods to the rear. My four children have followed my passion for 17th century reenactment by being drummers, pikemen, maidens and apprentices. My wife does all the leather work for the powder boxes I make and little Molly strings up the boxes to make the complete bandolier. Bandoliers and other wood turned items are not how I began. As a  northern English man, indeed perhaps like all English men, I  have a fascination for the underdog.  Charles I, King of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland as a United Kingdom that was not to become one country until the Act of Union in 1707,  had no army, few friends and very powerful enemies when he fled London to preserve his family. Modern historians continue to kick the felled King even hundreds of years after his death. Seeking out the truth from primary source information such as letters, decrees and bills, led to a website which I updated almost daily. Many students of the Early Modern Period ‘Road to Civil War’ used the resources freely. In time, I will copy all of that information over to this site. All my products are hand turned on a period 17th Century lathe. I have been involved in historical re-enactment since 1977 and I’m so passionate to get things exactly right that I have been involved in BBC programmes and have items in museums around the world. It is not enough to cut the trees down, use an axe to quarter them, wedges to split them and a shave horse to round the billets, I have to do it with authentic tools and in the authentic way. Then, after many months of air drying, the turning begins on a reproduction Seventeenth century lathe that has been made by myself from locally felled oak (quarter sawn) following Joseph Moxon’s Treatise on wood turning. Finishing is with period techniques too.

The English Civil War, even the Thirty Years’ War, were probably not intended to last long. Trained Bands drilled on Sundays with equipment that was well stored. Though I have been making bandoliers for several years now and I have never once had to repair or replace one, I offer a full guarantee for twelve months. Any or all items will be replaced in that time. Before sending out, all wood is immersed in thinned linseed oil (salad oil), three times over three days. After three working days, items are posted out first class. Please look at my YouTube videos to see how the Joseph Moxon lathe works.

and how the powder boxes were originally made.

Graham Webb.