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The Man , the Mariner , the Mastermind
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CHRIS BELCHER IS TO THE minds of many , a lock genius . He created many tools that have opened up the industry for skilled , practising locksmiths . The way Chris could simplify difficult lock problems was astonishing . Sadly , Chris has advanced lung cancer and is receiving palliative care .
UAP Tradelocks has worked with Chris , and his wife Suzzie , for the past 8 years , first buying his tools , then licencing them , then entering into developing products with him . David Jennings , UAP Managing Director , writes in tribute to his friend and mentor , Chris …
Soon UAP will be launching a new tool to open and decode the almost impossible Polish Gerda Lock . The engineering involved in the tool is complex but the solution to the problem is beautifully simple . So simple that you can explain the concept to a child in a minute . That is Chris Belcher ’ s fingerprint . Simplifying the complex , and doing it with humour and humility .
I visited Chris and Suzzie recently in the Bristol Royal Infirmary where Chris is receiving palliative care for advanced lung cancer . “ What the bloody hell have you been doing to yourself you silly sod ?” I said . “ Yep , I ’ ve really buggered myself up this time ,” he replied with a smile . A few minutes later Suzzie was telling the Oncology Doctor that she had been giving Chris natural iron medication to help his tiredness for months . “ Oh what sort of medication ?” asked the doctor , “ Guinness ,” Suzzie replied with a grin .
Morecombe and Wise , Yin and Yang , Ant and Dec , Chris and Suzzie . All natural partners . Suzzie and Chris have enviable warmth between them as they talk to locksmiths and students at trade fairs and open days – passing on their considerable knowledge without even thinking about being rewarded for doing so . There are very few people who would have anything negative to say about these two wonderful people .
I also make no secret that Chris ’ s input into our locks has , in part , been responsible for our growth over the last 8 years . His timing pin solution to cure Euro Cylinder lock bumping rather than using trap pins , and other elaborate solutions , is a case study in the Chris Belcher fingerprint . The system features in all our BSi Kitemark cylinders . He took a really difficult problem . He studied it closely . He considered Newtons laws of physics , and then he developed a beautifully elegant and simple solution to cure it . His genius is right there in every cylinder we sell . And his genius protects every householder who has one of our Kitemarked locks fitted . If you want to see poetry in motion , and British design and engineering at its very best , then go and open one of these cylinders and see the system in action .
Suzzie asked me if I had any miracles up my sleeve . Sadly I do not . But what I can do , and what I will do , is make sure that the Chris Belcher legacy lives on . It will live on in every Kitemarked cylinder we sell , it will live on in the way we look at design and development and testing of all our products .
Chris Belcher is a phenomenon . The locksmith industry , and UAP , will be the lesser without him . But we have all been graced by his gentle genius , and we are all the better for it . As for me , I am proud to call Chris Belcher a personal friend , and I am proud too of mine and UAP ’ s association with him . – David Jennings . In a response to comments on the Chris Belcher Appreciation facebook page , Chris ’ s wife Suzzie said , “ One of the things that drove Chris to being a locksmith for so many years was the daily sense of achievement that he was able
to help someone in a difficult situation . To fix their security problem was indeed a huge feel-good factor for him . We were lucky enough to have some of the nicest customers in the Devon and Cornwall area for almost 30 years . Doing a job that helps others and makes you feel that you have done good , is important . And in Chris designing tools to make locksmith ’ s work easier was a massively important factor for him . He didn ’ t design them for the $$ s , he designed them to help locksmiths do their work .”
Suzzie added , “ We ’ d like to thank the doctors and medical staff at BRI , Southmead , St Michael ’ s and BHOC Hospitals for everything that they are doing for Chris , along with our G . P . and Sirona Nursing support .”
LOCKSMITHJOURNAL . CO . UK | MAR / APR 2017 Sponsored by Insafe International