17 August/18 August 2019 ★ FTWeekend 13lenges were working out the curves of
the interior and exterior circumfer-
ences, Ross says, and getting the large
component sections on to the roof.
He is proud of the Resilience Bench, a
one-off commission by the Multiple
Sclerosis Society of Scotland. The con-
cept began when Cyclone Andrea
uprooted trees and devastated parts of
the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh
in 2012. The felled timber was offered to
members of Scottish Furniture Makers
Association to create a piece responding
to the storm that also would help MS
sufferers enjoy the gardens.
For the frame, Ross chose ash, a tough
wood that has become susceptible to ash
dieback, an incurable disease, while a
seat of dark oak gained its depth of col-
our from scorching, a Japanese tech-
nique calledshou sugi ban.The accompanying Holding Bench is
designed to be used by one or two
people who may be less mobile. It
is a simply curved, accessible form
withno hard anglesand endsthat
children can climb. Steam-bent loops
are fixed into skids at the base, which
also support the front legs and
the curved back rails.Ross conceived
the gap between the loops at the base
to reflect the problem of MS whereby
messages are not correctly transmitted
along neural pathways of the human
body. “After the Storm” was the text
chosen by the MS Society to inscribe on
the bench.
As well as using oak to craftpractical
furniture, Ross shapesit to evoke narra-
tive relationships. Bydoing so, he is add-
ing to a deep-rooted tradition in Scot-
landto bring cut wood to life to renew
itself time and again.House Home
(Top) Ross at
work
Photograph by Robert
Ormerod for the FTTwo famous oak trees near Angus
Ross’s workshop helped to build
Scotland’s story. InMacbeth,
Shakespeare wrote of Great Birnam
Wood, 10 miles south-east of
Aberfeldy, which was prophesied
by the three witches to move to
Dunsinane Hill, a vision realised by
troops camouflaged with its
branches. Today, the gnarled and
propped Birnam Oak (pictured
below) is the apparent lone
survivor from Shakespeare’s
lifetime. The other renowned tree is
Niel Gow’s Oak just along the River
Tay, under whose branches the
celebrated 18th-century fiddlersat
to compose his folk tunes, though
that is likely a Victorian folk story.
JFOak and folk
before returning to Scotland in 2000.
His pieces are usually special commis-
sions: “I never copy a picture; the
projects tend to be one-offs suited to
particular sites.” A handmade garden
bench might cost £2,000. A steam-bent
rooftop model surrounding the skylight
of an Edinburgh townhouse cost more
than £15,000.
For that project, sections ofwood
curve to create comfortable bucket
seats with wide armrests and an inte-
grated side table. The big practical chal-‘I never copy a picture;
the projects tend to be
one-offs suited toparticular sites’
(Far left) Simple
Pegged
Memorial Bench
(from £3,000)
on Kenmore
Hill, Perthshire;
(left) models in
the showroom
window
James T Millar; Robert
Ormerod for the FTAlamy
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