CHARLOTTE HALL CHARLIE AND THE BISCUIT FACTORY
Charlotte, or Charlie as most know her, is an aerospace engineer 9-5, but after hours creates the most fanciful celebration displays and hand decorated biscuits, that couldn’t be further from the hardcore elements of her day job.
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Born in Herefordshire and one of three girls, Charlie is part of a close-knit family. Her siblings are only a couple of years apart and when they get together it is a riot; a flurry of animated conversations, catching up on each of their very different married lives.
Their unity and similarities are so apparent and joyful, yet they have followed very different paths. Their parents moved from Hereford City when the girls were in their early teens and took them to embrace village life towards Ledbury.
IS IT A MAN’S WORLD? The girls
‘earned’ their pocket money and, when Charlie
desperately wanted a horse, aged 11 she would work, collecting eggs for the local farm to support the neverending expenses of her large pet. Dad, a Welder, has always had a ‘man-shed’ and was constantly making things; from home improvements to huge model aircraft, meticulously creating the large scale machines that have been flown at competitions and displays. He is currently building a motorised hang-glider (are you getting Professor Potts vibes?). Charlie was always by his side and this undoubtedly sparked the beginnings of her engineering interests. Though initially she thought she might become a Plumber, when at college, studying Construction and Architecture, through a contact of her dad’s, she became a Plumber’s mate to again help fund herself, finding joy in the technical hands-on nature of the job.
Though looking to the future, she opted to embark on an
Advanced Technical Apprenticeship in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, adding in a Mechanical element on top too. Charlie excelled and achieved the prestigious Technical Apprentice of the Year Award, a wonderful accolade, and subsequently secured funding for her future studies.
SPACE IS NOT ENOUGH Yet her artistic creativity still needed an outlet and, with her sister’s first and much longed-for baby on the way, an opportunity to ‘play’ for a purpose presented a whole new innovative avenue. Charlie set about giving her the most personal baby shower at a local venue, creating a colour-coordinated Teddy Bear’s Picnic display of eight foot high balloon arch, teddy bears on a swing in a woodland setting, along with a homemade cake and her first basket of baby themed, hand decorated biscuits. Table displays matched and 30 gal-pals wowed at such a bespoke setting. Charlie had even composed and had printed her own children’s storybook to gift, about the adventures of her own beloved dog Geoffrey and her sister’s dog Reggie. Was there no end to this original tomboy’s talents?
“I love to give something homemade instead of shop bought” she beams. “I’ve had to be thrifty and I do approach everything from an engineering view; technical, logical, methodical, and then see how I can adapt it to make it extra special”.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BISCUITS? Suddenly demand for Charlie to curate their own personal events started to come in from the discerning ladies who had attended
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LOCAL PEOPLE CHARLOT TE HALL
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