On 25 July trustees Hilary Brian, Brian McHenry and Stewart Ross joined sculptor Christine Charlesworth and Aphra afficionado Elaine Hobby at the Milwyn Foundry, West Molesey, to witness the final stage of Christine’s magnificent Aphra Behn statue transformation into bronze. The rubber mould of the statue, made by Christine in sections, is lined with green wax and a wax statue remains when the rubber is cut off. This is encased in ceramic and heated in a furnace so the wax melts away to leave a heat-proof ceramic mould in the same form as the original rubber one. The sections of ceramic mould look a bit like aliens because they have been fitted with hollow ‘runners and riders’ joining the top of the mould to the bottom. These ensure that as the molten bronze is poured in, air can escape and is not behind in bubbles.