The first turning competition was held in 1857 for apprentices of Company Masters. The initial response was disappointing,
in that only two entries were received, but this led to a more ambitious competition in 1870 when it was extended to any workman
or apprentice in England for the best exhibit of workmanship in turning. The prize was a silver medal accompanied by the
Freedom of the Company. Nine competitors took part in what was to become a regular event and the forerunner of today's
competitions.
The number of competitions expanded over the following 70 years to include amateurs and industrial schools as well as established
turners and apprentices. A growing interest in amateur turning after the Second World War led to the Company's decision to
encourage members of the newly formed Society of Ornamental Turners by offering medals for the winners of ornamental turning
competitions. The first awards were made in 1952.
In 1993 it was decided to widen the scope of the ornamental turning competitions by the introduction of competitions for plain
turning, prompted by the foundation of the Association of Woodturners of Great Britain. The winners of the plain turning
competitions also received medals. Nowadays turning competitions are held biennially.
In
2010, the competitions are to take place in Apothecaries' Hall (situated
in Black Friar's Lane near Blackfriars Station) on Wednesday 16th June 2010.
At the conclusion of the competition, prizes
will be awarded by the Master of the Turner's Company.
The competition will be in four main sections.
The first section, open to all turners, contains The Master's
Competition for A Pair of Presentation Boxes. Once again this year, the Master's Competition is divided
into two parts, each with equal prize-money. The first part is limited to entries made predominantly by plain turning while
the second part is for entries made largely by ornamental turning. Also in this section is The Felix Levy Competition for Freestyle
Turning and the Open Competition for a Matched Pair of Egg Cups.
The second section, open to members of the Association of Woodturners of
Great Britain only, contains the Senior and Junior (under 19) Plain Turning Competitions, and the Ray Key competition for those young turners who have attended the joint Company and AWGB youth training courses and who have not reached their 19th birthday.
The third section, open to members of the Society of Ornamental Turners
only, contains The Lady Gertrude Crawford Competition; The Fred Howe Competition and The H.E. Twentyman
Competition.
New to the Competition is the fourth section, restricted to members of the Pole Lathe Association, for a Candlestick.
The fifth section, open to Liverymen and Freemen of the Turners' Company only,
contains an Open Competition and a Novice Competition.
The conditions of entry for these competitions, and an entry form, can be found at:
Competition Rules and Entry 2010
The details of competitions held in 2004, 2006 and 2008 can be accessed through the link:
Previous Competitions.