Stained glass

This morning we went with a group from the Victoria & Albert Museum to the workshop of stained glass artist, John Reyntiens in deepest darkest Hackney.  John's most recent "big" project was the renovation of the four glass dials of Big Ben - they are 23 feet in diameter!  Previously he had several commissions from Queen Elizabeth including helping to restore Windsor Palace after its fire some years ago.  He's quite a character as you might expect.

He struggled earlier in life to free himself from being overshadowed by his father, Patrick Reyntiens, who collaborated with John Piper on Coventry Cathedral and the lantern tower of the Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool.