News
The Royal Standard, magazine of The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust
Spring 2013, issue no 32
Museum Matters
“Mia Sabel, owner of SABEL Saddlery, and QEST (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust) Scholar, was invited to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June 2012 to demonstrate her saddlery skills. At the event she was approached by the PRCLT team and commissioned to replicate the existing, but damaged, window straps for the 45000 Royal Saloon.
In total SABEL Saddlery reproduced one decoratively stitched and two plain window straps, a door restraining strap, a fire-extinguisher strap (sponsored by Paula Hewlett) and recovered the snap-hook ends on the Guard's Handle.
In order to match the original stitched window strap, Mia sourced some traditional oat grain, 4mm oak bark leather from the last remaining oak bark pit tannery in the UK - Bakers in Colyton, Devon. The other leather items were made from plain oak bark pit tanned leather, again from Bakers. Using traditional saddlery techniques, the decorative strap was hand-stitched and hand-finished - and the edges burnished using a cow bone and elbow grease.
In October, Mia Sabel was invited to Derbyshire to see the work in-situ and was thrilled to enjoy a ride on the footplate of 46233 the Duchess of Sutherland whilst it was hauling the Royal Saloon.”
