The Coastal road to Tramore is tranquil, with tiny seaside villages and beaches.
Sara fights with the wind on Tramore beach
Tramore beach stretches with 5km of white sand 
The Waterford Crystal furnaces have been hot 24 hours a day since 1947
The 2nd quality inspection area finds cracks and errors made in the cutting process
Grinding designs into the crystal is a delicate skill, apprentices take five
years to learn
20 crystal engravers sit under lamps designing delicate motifs
Chunks of crystal scrap that will be melted down again
A solid crystal grandfather clock at the water ford Crystal factory took several years to
complete and is one of a kind
Muddy Waterford harbour is deep enough to allow modern ships to moor in the city's
quays |
EXCERPT FROM SARA’S JOURNAL November 3, 1998
Waterford
I lay in bed last night, stared at the chandelier and wondered at the
possibilities of what could have occurred in such a room in the span of a hundred years.
The coastal road from Youghal to Tramore is dotted with little
villages. the seaside resort boasts a 5km white sand beach backed with 30 metre-high dunes
at one end. The wind pushes us down the shoreline and screams in our faces on the
way back.
A few kilometres up the road at the outskirts of the city of Waterford
is the Waterford Crystal Factory. the first Waterford glass factory was
established in 1783 at the west end of the quays of the River Suir, one of the busiest
ports in Ireland. The first phase of the business closed in 1851 due to punitive
taxes imposed on the raw materials by the British government. In 1947 the factory
was revived at the outskirts of the city and to this day the kilns are operational 24
hours, never given the chance to cool down. Highly skilled workers continue the
tradition producing the characteristically heavy crystal, made with red lead, silica sand
and potash. The master blower, the master cutter, the master engravers and all of
the workers under them come to the company at 17 or 18 years of age and apprentice for 5
to 10 years before acquiring the skills to design, blow, cut and polish the crystal.
Pieces are so heavy because of their 30% lead weight, blown very thick in order to take
the distinctive Waterford deep cuts in the glass. The craftsmanship is second to none, and
workers are paid only for the pieces that make it to the show room. Each piece is
identified by its blower, cutter and polisher, and a bubble,chip, breakage or cutting too
deep into the design results in a throw-away. The craftsman must then begin again,
even if he has worked on a piece for several hours. The team of blowers, cutters and
engravers is almost entirely men. Waterford Crystal acknowledges that this is because of
the many years it takes to apprentice and learn the skills, disrupting plans for
child-rearing. 80% of the crystal manufactured here is exported to the United States.
Waterford has been a strategic port since 915 AD. It's medieval
foundations are apparent in narrow alleyways and the best surviving city walls in Ireland.
The walls are crowned by the 25-metre high Reginald's Tower, built by the Normans in
the 12th century and strategically situated by the river. The tower stands on the
site of the original wooden Viking tower built by Reginald Dane in 1003 AD and was
the last stronghold to fall when the Normans overtook the Vikings 200 years later.
Waterford is now a thriving commercial city, with the estuary of the River Suir deep
enough to allow modern ships to moor in the city's quays. |
A beach near Annestown on the south eastern coast of Ireland
The Waterford Crystal factory provides a guided tour through its facilities, where
visitors can learn the craft of glass blowing close-up
An apprentice at the Waterford Crystal factory "mops" pieces of molten glass
A quality inspection area find bubbles and chips, and problems with crystal designs
Champagne anyone?
A master cutter makes too-deep a cut and must throw away four hours of work, for which he
will not be paid
Crystal engraving tools are only copper and grease
The Waterford Crystal Showroom gives visitors a chance to examine the finished products
and take something home
The 12th centuryReginald's Tower is part of the best preserved cuty walls in
Ireland
|
