How to become a Lego Master and turn your hobby into your dream job

The Lego lion surveys his kingdom (minus the top of his head)
The Lego lion surveys his kingdom (minus the top of his head) Credit: Christopher Pledger for The Telegraph

I'm face to face with a five-foot lion - the king of the jungle and one of it's deadliest animals. I can almost hear it breathing. Except it has lost the top of its head, like some cruel lobotomy gone wrong. I can't hear it breathing either. That's because it is made out of Lego and I have been duped. I am not in the Serengeti, or Whipsnade Zoo. I am in an industrial estate in the remote town of Bordon, Hampshire. 

This is where Bright Bricks are based, a Lego building company run by Duncan Titmarsh, the UK’s only LEGO Certified Professional and one of only 13 in the world. Titmarsh is showing me around one of his five industrial units where his team of 49 staff spend their days making structures out of Lego for companies, parks and exhibitions. 

The Lion is a work in progress - hence the cruel lobotomy - as are all the structures in the room. On my tour, Titmarsh shows me a model of Chester Cathedral with its stain glass windows and flying buttresses, a seven-foot long leopard and three frogs with their mouths ajar, which are meant for a kid's playpark. "They'll sit on lilypads on the water and kids can throw things into their mouth," Titmarsh informs me.

There's also a mini model of an MRI scan complete with mini-doctors and computers. These models are used in hospitals to show children going to have a scan what is involved and put them at ease about the situation. If the little Lego men can do it, then so can you. Titmarsh estimates that they have around 35 million Lego bricks at Bright Bricks, either in one of their warehouses or the neatly packed boxes positioned around their main work space.

The three frogs, mouths ajar, for kids (or adults) to throw things in
The three frogs, mouths ajar, for kids (or adults) to throw things in Credit:  Christopher Pledger

I start to think quite seriously about packing in my job in London and emigrating to the Hampshire woods to build Lego frogs until I croak. I'm not the only fully-fledged adult who has these wild aspirations. David Beckham recently took a week of work to build a Lego princess castle for his six-year-old daughter Harper, such is his zest for the little bricks.

And tonight is the finale of Channel 4 show Lego Masters, which aims to find the best amateur Lego builder in the UK. The contestants range from all ages, with a nine-year-old mixing it up with students from the University of Cambridge, all with one thing in common - they're mad about Lego. Judges along the way have included celebrity fans Richard Osman, Bill Bailey and, tonight, Dara Ó Briain.  

Two baby lions messing around
Two baby lions messing around Credit: Christopher Pledger

But here I am with the ultimate Lego master. Like most children, Titmarsh began playing with bricks as a kid, before putting the bricks away in his teenage years and joining the RAF. He left aged 21, and while walking though Woolworth's with his wife-to-be, there was an old friend down the toy's aisle that caught his eye. "I was hooked all over again," says Titmarsh. "I went into my parent's loft to get all the old Lego out, and from there it just grew. I took up a room in the house, with my Lego town".

Adult perceptions of Lego were slightly different back then. There was no David Beckham making it cool for adults to play along. "My wife thought it was very unusual," Titmarsh chuckles. "I think nowadays your never too old to build a few bricks but when I first started people were like, "what are you doing playing with a kids toy". What they didn't realise is it's just another medium to be creative." 

Putting the icing on Chester Cathedral
Putting the icing on Chester Cathedral Credit:  Christopher Pledger

As a fan and amateur builder he was invited by the BBC to build the Today programme studio live on air. He spent three hours making the structure while in the green room. He fitted kitchens and bathrooms at the time - "I was self-employed before so when a Lego project came up I did that, and then I would go off to tile someone's bathroom". He credits it as a good background for his future career. After the radio show aired, the offers started flying in and in 2008 he decided to go full-time with the Lego building.

By 2010, he became Lego's only UK certified professional and then in 2011 came his Sistine Chapel - the world record for largest Lego Christmas tree, standing at 12.2 metres high in St Pancras train station. "I still built that out of my garden shed believe it or not," reveals Titmarsh. "I had to layout all the branches around the garden because there was no room in my shed."

A baby gorilla relaxing in the Bright Bricks studio
A baby gorilla relaxing in the Bright Bricks studio Credit: Christopher Pledger

Titmarsh is a bit of an everyman. Wearing a plain, blue polo shirt like everyone in the office, you wouldn't immediately guess that he was the boss. But in his mind is this unnerving ability to turn his imagination into brick form. 

He is also a family man, happily married with two daughters aged 21 and 19. "They grew up surrounded by Lego," he says. "Luckily, they grew up enjoying Lego too." He talks about how it was a bonding activity within the family, especially when the Christmas sets came out for the holidays.

Bright Bricks do workshops for children, teaching them Lego basics and getting them to play fun Lego-based games. "It's great when you do events and you see the parents wanting to help out and in the end, they do it together and that's what you want - you've achieved something as a family."

The drawers where each type of brick are kept
The drawers where each type of brick are kept Credit: Christopher Pledger

For those adults who might want to take it upon themselves to be the sole constructor, the company also hosts workshops for adults - with a stag party, one particularly memorable event. "10 grown men in a room, building bricks and enjoying themselves." Beckham is likely saving the pennies as we speak.

Titmarsh doesn't have many pieces around the house anymore, and while there are 35 million bricks for him to play with at work, he is mainly concentrated on building the business up and not the Lego bricks. The Lego building has been passed down to the rest of the Bright Bricks staff, some of whom are avid fans like Titmarsh, some of which are locals who have been trained up and a substantial amount are from Kladno, Czech Republic where LEGO have only one of four manufacturing sites around the world. And while we all may dream of taking weeks off work to build Lego à la Beckham and the contestants of Lego Master, once you make it your living, it may not be quite what we all had in mind. "There's certainly stresses to it. We regularly work overnight to get some projects finished on time. If you want to turn it from something amateur into professional, then you need to have the work ethic to make it happen".

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