St James de-cafe try their hand at letter locking
The café guests at St James De café in Alperton enjoyed a wonderful and fascinating letter locking workshop today, led by Ellie Howe . Ellie is a second-year English student at Kings College London and our Project Manager Debbie’s daughter .
Ellie introduced us to the forgotten art of letter locking, a clever technique used centuries ago to fold and secure letters before envelopes were invented. She shared some of the history behind this fascinating tradition before guiding everyone through the process of creating their very own locked letters.
There was plenty of concentration, creativity, and laughter as everyone tried their hand at the diamond fold used by Queen Elizabeth I, which was technically very difficult. It was a lovely opportunity to learn something new and to write a letter – most of the group hadn’t written a letter for many years!
A huge thank you to Ellie for her patience, enthusiasm and for bringing a little piece of history to life for everyone at St James De Café!
