Speaking to a Birmingham colleague to day and found out that Ray St Ledger died last week .I worked in an adjacent shop to Ray for a while in the late 70's and although now retired and the business being carried on by his sons its Ray I still think of when any one mentions colour hardening .
Thats sad mate...he seemed to be the "Bloke" to go to.I have an nice old WW Greener hammer gun he re hardened in the 70's,I believe.. super colours , awesome blues, green, turquoise,grey, straw..all depended how the light hit it..incredibly pretty colours,
Hope his lads keep up the quality of their father work.
God bless the old guys, eh??
cheers
franc
Post World War II there were two principal colour hardeners to the Birmingham trade, Billy Woodward and the Century Polishing & Hardening Co. Woodward trained Ray St. Ledger, father of Richard, who continues to run the firm on Price Street in the Birmingham Gun Quarter. They carry out traditional colour-case hardening work for many British gunmakers, as well as some European ones too. They are acknowledged as the finest in the world for this work.
There is a sad story attached to Ray’s passing. See
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/fears-missing-hodge-hill-pensioner-7923887and
http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2...gham-pensioner/May he rest in peace, with our thanks for his life, his skill and his craftsmanship.
Tim
I am terribly sorry to hear this. One of the great artisans in the gun world has passed. A loss to the industry and a greater loss to his family.
What a sad story.
His legend will live on and his name will not be forgotten.
I was shown some of his work earlier this year. It was stunning.