There’s only one week left until Valentine’s day and most people are on the hunt for the perfect present.
Whether its for a secret crush or a your soulmate, sometimes it can seem impossible to find the the right gift to say I love you. If you know that feeling all too well, don’t panic! We have some products at Slate House which will make your search seem a lot easier.
This Father’s Day saw the return of the annual Swansea Festival of Transport, organised by Ashley Lovering.
With over 400 cars, vans, buses, lorries and more, the festival continues to grow each year. Attracting a huge audience from across the country, the free event has come a long way from its early days. Starting out in Swansea airport in 1994 as a show known as ‘Wings and Wheels’ with 80 vehicles, it next moved on to the Quadrant bus station. As the show attracted more attention and grew in size, it was moved to Singleton Hospital where the famous name ‘Swansea Festival of Transport’ came about.
Eventually the festival moved to the city centre, bringing with it larger crowds and even more vehicles. The festival itself not only aims to provide a FREE day of fun for all the family, but it also aids local independent businesses by attracting such a large audience to Swansea.
Having recently opened a store on Union Street in Swansea, we aim to support and promote all of the great events taking place in the city and Swansea Festival of Transport sounded like a fantastic way to begin!
Over the past 8 years, Slate House has been creating Welsh slate homeware and gifts, slate house signs, memorial plaques, and grave plaques, and awards for customers all over the world including well known brands such as NATO, CADW, NHS, Red Bull, The National Trust, BAFTA Cymru, NFU Mutual, Marriott Hotels and many more. We are also supplying over 130 shops in the UK – and the list is still growing at a respectable rate.
Part of the reason for this growth is our ongoing approach to process improvement. 8 years ago the company consisted of 1 person and a shed; these days the Slate House manufacturing team is housed in a 300 square meter workshop equipped with the right tools and experience to produce a unique range of products, which is constantly growing in popularity.
The other reason for our growth is our loyalty to one of Wales’ great commodities – Welsh Slate. If you don’t know much about Welsh slate, it is the toughest and most durable slate known to man, has very little impurities and when oiled, has a beautiful deep grey colour. Of course, this combination of qualities makes it the perfect choice for homeware.
The slate we use is mined in Blaenau Ffestinniog and is renowned for being the finest in the world; deservedly so. It’s the quality and purity of 500 million year old Welsh slate that sets it apart from alternatives – and in turn, it’s what distinguishes our products from other items on the market. The slate is brought to our workshop in Crynant, south Wales, where we painstakingly hand-cut each piece.
To give you an idea of the process which each piece of Welsh slate goes through before it gets to your home, we’ve put together a step by step guide… You could also take a look at our ‘Handcrafting Welsh slate video’, which gives you a sneak peek into our workshop!
Step 1:
To make any of our Welsh slate homeware products, we must first mark out the desired shape onto the rear of the slate.
With the chipped edge facing down, we then cut up to the line with a hand guillotine.
As the guillotine is cutting through the slate, it creates a rustic chipped edge on the underside. Once the shape is cut out, we then need to check that there are no loose pieces around the chipped edge and tap away any sharp corners.
For the picture frames, we also need to use a bridge cutter to remove the centre cut out then file the corners with a diamond file.
Step 2:
Once we have our Welsh slate cut to size, we apply a food-safe oil/sealant, which also enhances the colour of the slate. We apply this special oil with our custom-built scrubbing machine, which simultaneously removes any dust spots and any loose bits .
Step 3:
The Welsh slate is left to dry overnight. Once the oil is dry we can then finish the products as required. For all tableware we use large 3mm thick natural cork pads on the underside of each piece.
All products are then tied and tagged before being boxed, ready for the customer.
Of course; once the items are finished we can then engrave any Welsh slate product for a multitude of uses, but that’s another story.
…And that’s when our Welsh slate products find themselves being transported to any number of destinations. Not only do we fulfil orders from our website, we also have a retail shop in Neath where, alongside our own products, we also sell a wide range of gifts and homeware, all made in Wales. Of course.
Have you seen any Slate House Welsh slate homeware on your travels?