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Melvyn Stone
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At 5am on any day of the week you could well find 80 year old Melvyn Stone with a cup of tea in one hand and a specialist nib in the other creating beautiful words, symbols and intricate drawings.
Melvyn’s talent for calligraphy was spotted by his mum when he was just seven: “It was 1942, the war was on so there wasn’t much for us to do, certainly not a lot of books around. My mother got me some black pens and I loved them! I would sit for ages quietly drawing and it all went from there really.”
Teachers were quick to utilise young Melvyn’s special gift and started giving him tasks to do around his school: “I was asked to write out a lot of the exam certificates, which was great fun” he said. Despite all this Melyvn didn’t actually go on to have an artistic career, choosing instead to be a tailor in his beloved home town of Dartmouth. He never lost the touch: “Lots of different organisations wanted me to create things for them and still do. I have done passing out certificates for the Naval College, official documents for the council and Bible inserts for Church”.
Though for Melvyn, nothing quite tops the moment his work was recognised by the Queen: “I was commissioned to make five Diamond Jubilee scrolls back in 2012. It was a real honour for me and I spent a total of 2,400 hours on them.” Yes, he did count! “One of them was for Her Majesty but no one told me I would actually get to present it to her, wow that was quite a moment,” he said. Melvyn is a bit of a royalist at heart and has now met nearly every high profile member of the Royal Family. He’s not easily overwhelmed though and believes his hand would have stayed just as steady when putting the finishing touches to the Queen’s scroll if he had known he was going to see her receive it in person!
Having just turned 80, Melvyn shows no signs of slowing up. He is still taking on various jobs for people around the town and always likes to have something on the go. Before talking to By the Dart he was discussing his next job; doing the writing on a couple’s wedding album. The work doesn’t interfere with his home life as much as previous pursuits: “I used to be quite flamboyant doing singing and dancing with operatic societies but this is a hobby I can do in the same room as my wife Jeannette! She does her knitting and I do my writing. it can be quite quiet in our home at times. When I get up early, I do just have to get cracking with it but Jeannette doesn’t mind as long as I bring her an early morning cup of tea!”
First Published in By The Dart August 2015 Issue
