Hand crafted rose marks royal visit

To mark the occasion, The Princess Royal was gifted a bespoke rose bush sculpture, crafted from copper and steel by one of Warsash Maritime School’s (WMS) engineering technical instructors.

The intricate sculpture was created by Paul Stanislas, who has been a technical instructor on the WMS engineering team for almost 12 years. Speaking at the event, Paul said:

“It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to present something that gives me such pleasure to create to royalty.”

This is not the first time one of Paul’s creations has been presented to The Princess Royal. When she officially opened the new WMS site at St Mary’s, Paul crafted a silver letter opener featuring a handle inspired by one of the model vessels used at the University’s ship handling centre in Timsbury.

With more than 30 years of experience working with metal, Paul began his welding career on the railways before moving into the maritime sector as a fabricator welder - creating galley refits for ships and even supporting salvage operations, including producing equipment used to raise a plane from the seabed.

His journey into metal sculpture began when he made a figurine to mark the retirement of his foreman. Since then, he has produced a wide range of figurines, models and trophies as gifts for colleagues, friends, family members and special events.

Paul’s work is known for its remarkable attention to detail. His pieces often feature finely engineered components such as moving gun barrels and tiny spurs on cowboy models, as well as miniature air hoses, clips and valves on deep-sea diver sculptures. Even the smallest of his motorbike models includes brake cables, levers and petrol caps, all crafted by hand.

Further information about the programmes and opportunities on offer at the SMART Centre, through the South Coast Institute of Technology - including maritime, engineering and digital pathways – can be found on the website here.