Will Harris

Joined Carpenter Oak: 2018

Interview with Will Harris

When not in the yard, what do you enjoy doing?
A close acquaintance has recently got me into making children. I wasn’t convinced initially but have been persuaded she was right. Other than that, making things, river swimming, walking with the children, running with the dog and good food.

If stranded on a desert Island, which three people would you take?
Bear Grylls, Handy Andy, Jesus

Who would be in your dream carpentry team?
Bear Grylls, Handy Andy, Jesus

What music do you listen to?
Don’s music

What is the most embarrassing job you have ever had?
I was a child model for Horse and Pony Magazine

What is the best comedy film ever made?
Super Troopers. Or Amelie if I’m feeling more mature.

What do you enjoy most about working with wood?
The smell

Do you have a favourite quote?
Run away

What is your nickname at the yard?
‘Captain Will’ seems to have stuck

Biography
One of two boys bred on a small livestock farm in Cambridgeshire with a retired Tup (male sheep, for the use of) called Jethro and a border collie called Nelly. Averagely academic, I achieved mixed results and was sent to a small village in the Brazilian Pantanal while my dad toured various art schools with a blank UCAS form, my A level portfolio, and a brown envelope full of sweet breads. Four years at Newcastle delivered a few life lessons and aligned my star map with the woman who would subsequently teach me the rest. I really enjoyed the technicality of portraiture and printmaking and was interested in the conservation and restoration side of art, but as the end came it became quite clear Sotheby’s weren’t crying out for 2:2s from red brick universities. Fortunately for me, Her Majesty was, and leaving a large pile of hair where Nelly (RIP) used to sleep, I walked up the steps of Sandhurst in January 2006. I spent most of the next six years based in Germany, with two active service stints crawling around the marshes in Iraq and learning how to roll a cigarette in Afghanistan. I was then posted back to London to drive a desk and decided (with a huge amount of patience from Zoe) that I’d rather do something more physical and creative. I managed to convince someone to allow me to do some work experience here and they seemed to be a company that really thought carefully about what they do and the people that do it. Essentially my gut instinct was that it felt very right.