Chapter 1 of 4
Learning the Grain
David left school at sixteen and walked into a joinery yard because the foreman knew his uncle. He was given a broom before he was given a chisel and spent a month sweeping sawdust without complaint.
He learned that wood had moods: oak that resisted, ash that forgave, pine that showed every mistake. His master, Mr Hollis, said the job was listening with your hands.
By twenty he could fit a door frame in an hour and take two on a difficult wall because he checked twice. Hollis told him he would either own a yard one day or work for someone who did.