Brian Westwood - Marble Maker

Biography

Brian has worked at the House of Marbles for many years. The House of Marbles is part of Teign Valley Glass based in Bovey Tracey in Devon and specialises in marbles. About 80 people are employed at the site but only six or seven of them make marbles by hand. The company also makes glass marbles by machine. The process looks easy but is technically quite difficult. Machine-made marbles have coloured glass injected into the flowing glass. As the glass descends from the furnace, shears cut it into small regular sized cylinders and moving mechanical rollers round the marbles off and leave them to cool.

Most marbles today are machine made. Brian is one of a very few people making marbles by hand. His marbles are made as works of art, not as toys, and are for collectors.