Photobook: Luthier. Beeches Lane.
A Luthier, the late 19th-century title for a violin maker. The word was initially used to refer to someone who made lutes, a plucked, stringed instrument from the Renaissance Era, but it came to be used for makers of most bowed and plucked stringed instruments.
This book captures the atmosphere inside the workshop of Julian Batley—a luthier at Beeches Lane on Shrewsbury Town Walls.
The photographs show stacks of cases and racks of instruments, traditional tools, and spare strings. Unchanged for decades, it is a fascinating place, like stepping back in time.
In 1980, Julian began his apprenticeship in Washington with Barry Oliver, a graduate of the Cremona School of Violinmaking.
After working with Rafael Carrabba in Seattle, he returned to work with his father in North Shropshire, an internationally renowned expert & dealer. On his father's retirement, Julian moved his business of repairing, restoring & making instruments to Shrewsbury.
