The old (East) London Marquetry group, who had been in existence since the early days of the marquetry movement, ceased operating as a viable entity in 1979. In April of the same year several members of the old London group headed by Alf Murtell merged the remnants of that group with a small group that had been formed by Derek Austin at Geary's School, Redbridge into the Redbridge Marquetry Group. Many of those original members are still with us at Redbridge even now and they have provided the strong foundation from which the group has been able to flourish and mature into the august band of marquetarians, both young and old, that represent the Redbridge Marquetry Group of today. 

The old London group, however, had unwittingly set many standards that have become normal practice these days. For instance the very first of the society's national exhibitions took place on the 25th April 1953 within the London group's environs inside the foyer of the Odeon Cinema, Guildford. The society's well respected 'Marquetarian' magazine also, in it's turn, started out in life as a photo copied single sheet newsletter for members of the London group.

Another achievement of the London group was the presentation of commemorative marquetry pieces to various august bodies, one example being this plaque (photo bottom right) bearing the coat of arms of the London borough of Hackney. Several members of the London group participated in the making of the plaque and I'm pleased to say that some of them are still with us in the Redbridge Marquetry group today.  

This very decorative piece has been hung in the council chamber at the Hackney Town Hall and has stood up to the passage of time with all the fortitude and dignity that its workmanship demanded.

As well as this very important piece of marquetry work intended for permanent display in Borough Council chambers, the London group also had another even more significant marquetry piece they had been working on that they intended to present to a very important person.

Click the V.I.P. button below to find out who this was. 

If you would like to read a description of the methods used in the construction of the aforementioned plaque, please click this following link:

A member of our group has unearthed some notes made at the time of the inauguration of the Marquetry Society - it makes intriguing  reading to see how it all began. Click the following link to read about the early days:

We have an "early days of the RMG photo gallery" you may find interesting. It depicts many historic events from the Redbridge archives.
Please click the "Early photos" button at top of this page to enter the gallery, or if you prefer, just click this following link: