Bill shares spiritual story with new project

The latest woodworking project by Juniper Rowethorpe Retirement Living Village resident Bill Henshall is set to go statewide.

Part of the retirement village community in Bentley, Bill has enjoyed tinkering around in the Residents’ Shed “when a bloke feels like it” making bench seats, tables, bookshelves, and more for close to a decade.

When Juniper Chaplain Bruce Grant asked the resourceful 83-year-old if he could create Easter scenes that would take pride of place at 25 Juniper sites across WA, Bill was quick to make it happen.

Bill purposely decided to create the scenes using wood as Christ was a carpenter.

“Pure and simple, it’s telling the story of the last three years of the life of Jesus,” Bill said.

“The stone rolled back, signifies the resurrection, which is the most important part of the depiction.

“It’s a deliberate attempt to tell a visual story – not a nail and no glue was used,” he said.

During his career, Bill worked with the Education Department and visited Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley “on and off for 40 years” to talk finance and accounting.

Always enjoying his time in the northernmost area of WA, Bill referred to the region fondly as “a bit of a backyard” and has visited the Kimberley several times since retiring from the workforce.

When crafting the more than two dozen Easter scenes, Bill did it all with hand tools, which took “just a few weeks” once he had a series of templates in place.

“It became a bit of a production line – the entire shape of it was all done and finished by hand,” he said.

“It has meaning, it’s not just an object, but there’s a meaning, there’s a story to it.”

The just over two dozen scenes will soon make their way to Juniper sites across WA in readiness for Easter 2026.

“The whole idea is to create a consideration of what Easter is all about and get everyone to think about it and why the scene is shaped the way it is,” he said.

To thank Bill for all his efforts, Juniper CEO Russell Bricknell recently visited the workshop to present a gift of appreciation.

Away from his projects in the shed, Bill keeps active with regular rowing machine workouts and bicycle rides, pedalling about 200km each week.

Looking ahead, the creative endeavours keep coming for Bill with a Christmas themed project currently in the design stages.

“Retirement’s a dirty word, and I’m sure most retired folk would agree with that,” he said.