Headstone carving - a dying craft

- Michael Sloley

Winston Hylton cleans the lettering on one of his many marble-work headstones in his showroom. His workshop on East Street, Central Kingston, is possibly one of the few remaining where marble work is done in Jamaica.

Glenda Anderson, Staff Reporter

AFTER 40 years carving marble headstones and monuments, Winston Hylton is a troubled man.

He worries that in the next few years he may not be able find enough workmen or persons interested in his trade, to pass on his skills to.

Each day he chips away at blocks of marble and granite, carves fanciful designs and elegant lettering at his East Street workshop, downtown Kingston. He knows each new design must be abreast of the market expectation and demand to keep his craft alive.

Also, he knows that the young must develop an interest as well for it to survive.

"The big problem for us now is getting workmen. There was a time when we had a staff of 12 persons back in the '80s. Now we can hardly find people to work in the industry. The young ones are just not interested; I had to hire and train two different persons within the space of six months," he said.

Mr. Hylton is one of several older tradesmen whose skills may be lost in the new globalised marketplace. At one time, he says, he even struggled to find raw material.

"Nobody mining marble anymore. The two local areas, Hellshire (St. Catherine) and Serge Island (St. Thomas) that would normally supply us, closed from in the '80s, so that all the marble we use now is imported."

Today there are substitutes for many of the products offered by local skilled craftsmen. In the case of others, it is merely a name-change. For example, take the case of a farrier, a smith who now works at merely fitting horse-shoes rather than making them. Or a "soldering" man - a tinsmith - who more often than not these days works as a welder or fabricator.

The gradual extinction of these skills means that the blacksmith/farrier, bicycle repairman or skilled mechanic, and the marble worker may soon disappear in a society of modern alternatives.

Lloyd Biggs works out of a roadside shop on East Queen Street, central Kingston, tuning bicycles, patching tyres, and doing general mechanical repairs. He too worries a lot these days. He has been fixing bicycles since he was nine years old, and at age 51, feels that soon his skills may not be needed anymore.

"This is my profession, but people now getting modern. They specialising in new bikes that don't have so much problems, so I end up getting less work," he said.

Business, he says, is down to the minimal. "...Sometimes I will get like six patches for the day. Before, I use to get up to two dozen. The people dem buying the things dem now, so for example if they buy the tyres you get less patching. It's advantage (an) for the manufacturers but for the repairman it's difficult."

But where Mr. Biggs believes there is no hope for survival except to continue with his craft, Mr. Hylton believes that staying ahead may be a matter of the craftman's ability to adapt.

"One time the trade shifted because we couldn't get any marble to work with as the two major local suppliers closed down, and people started using granite. Some would come in to buy marble but when they see the granite then they prefer it. So we started doing granite about four years ago because we found it to be harder, with more colour and people would vandalise the marble more in the cemetery," Mr. Hylton says.

For experienced motor mechanics like Kenny Miles, with a large workshop on Lyndhurst Road, Kingston, the trick is simply to keep learning new skills. He explains that the economic situation and free trade has already forced some unit specialists (engine, transmission and gearbox workmen) out of the trade.

"What most people don't realise is that since about 1980, more than 70 to 80 per cent of the cars coming in are computerised. They are getting more sophisticated in recent years, and this affects some of the skilled men. For example, this week I worked on my second engine for the year and we have eight months gone already," Mr. Miles said.

He feels that imported used parts for cars and better model cars have also chipped away at the traditional business available to motor mechanics.

"You can buy a used Sunny engine for up to $1,500, but the average garage will charge you $20,000 upwards to overhaul, plus parts. So if you go the repairs route you could end up spending $40,000 to $50,000. But overall, the cars now are so much better that we are out of work already."

He feels that one way to keep ahead is to attract "bright people (mechanics) who read a lot and realise that things are not the same anymore."

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