The mid-week induction day was a coach trip to various glass places -- at last something interesting! We visited MRJ Furnaces where they make sheet glass for windows and for stained glass in the way it used to be made -- blown into a cylinder, like a large drainpipe, and then opened out and flattened with a wooden 'iron'. The curved tops of these, called muffs, are first cut off and were available for us to buy for £1.50 each. They look like bowls with a hole in the bottom and a jagged edge. We were advised that they would be a good source of colour. I bought a green one and a deep Bristol blue one, not really knowing what I would be able to do with them, but taking a risk on it. Someone said you could do things with slumped glass. I have a lot to learn. Only one other student did the same. The factory also blows circular panes. In fact, there is only one expert blower and their output is quite small. He made it look so easy, but we all knew it isn't.
Picture by Alan Shuttleworth
