And so began a phone conversation I had been hoping for since I began to read the many fascinating ‘handyman’ books of W.P.Matthew, and longed to find out more about the man who wrote them. I was talking to his son. I discovered, during our half hour conversation that I already had a photograph of the man I was speaking to, that had been part of the clue that helped me locate and contact him. The front cover of the dust jacket of ‘Woodwork for boys’ shows two children in self conscious photographic poses, one with pincers, one with pencil, caught midway through a carpentry project. ‘I am the boy on the right’. Philip Matthew laughed. Now I know more about the author, thanks to the warm generosity of Philip, I understand why i had been drawn to several W.P. Matthew books in particular. ‘Woodwork for boys’ has a writing style not found in many ‘How to’ manuals. W.P. talks directly to the child, who he describes in the introduction. ‘In preparing it I had in mind boys of about eleven years of age upwards, and from first to last the tools mentioned and the various jobs described are simple enough to be within the scope of the average boy WITHOUT ANY ASSISTANCE AT ALL.’ (W.P. Matthew’s bold letters.) I have learnt that sentence by heart due to the amount of times I had read it to people during discussions of children developing practical skills early in life. The reader is taken through building a bookcase from grocery boxes, then a model garage, then a bedside table-with W.P. as his gentle guide, introducing new tools and methods with patient explanations. The simple prose style of the book encourages a complete novice ‘steadily’ through twelve ‘jobs’. On the back of the dust cover under ‘How to use this book’ there is more encouragement. ‘That word “steadily” is the most important word on this page. The twin enemies of all good craftsmanship are haste and impatience. Remember, your work will be judged by the quality of the finished article and not by the length you spend doing it.” For some timeI had been looking for a descendant of W.P. Matthew to learn more about him. ‘Woodwork for boys’ was published in 1950 for a boy about eleven, so I had some idea of the age of the man I was looking for and now i had every chance to ask all the questions about details in his writing that had intrigued me. ‘ And did you build all those forts and garages in the book’ I asked. ‘ Sadly, I didn’t inherit that gene, Philip Matthew told me. ‘I am an accountant’. Since that phone call, Philip has been kind enough to share his memories of his famous father. I am looking forward to continuing the journey with such a helpful guide.
