A Celebration of the Neglected Classic "The Wheelwrights Shop" by George Sturt. Comparing his devotion to his traditional craft with contemporary artists.

"Last night's Sunday Feature, Wheels and Stones (Radio 3), was a lesson in composing radio features. Producer and presenter Judith Kampfner has the knack of building layers and textures without the finished programme ever feeling pretentious or unfriendly. Instead, it has a quiet richness."

The backbone of the piece were Robert Powell's readings from George Sturt's The Wheelwright's Shop, an account of a teacher taking over his father's business of building wooden wheels and wagons, published in 1923. In it, Sturt recalls starting to learn the craft too late: "At over 20, the muscles are no longer able to put on the cell growths, and so acquire the habits of perceiving and doing which should have begun at 15." He also wasn't very good at choosing wood. One batch was, he remembered, "foxy in the middle - there was rusty-looking pith, like torn string".

There were also interviews with stonemasons, coachwrights and a jeweller. Their accounts of their work were hypnotically intense, with occasional moments of simplicity. "I just love suiting somebody," said the jeweller. "It's just cleaning off, sanding down and you're there," said a mason. "You've conquered it."

Elizabeth Mahoney, The Guardian

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