A few weeks ago I spent a week camping in a lush little woodland in Cumbria as part of the four one day workshops For my first trip to Woodland pioneers. I’ve had many friends attend and some who run workshops, so it was great to see what why everyone liked it so much.
Day 1 for our group of 6 was round wood stool making with Lorna Singleton. Although I’ve made stalls before there were still many new things I picked up, like weaving with sisal for the seat.
Day 2. riven oak panel with with Owen Jones. There were more things to lean on this day than any other, but now our group had gotten to know each other better so were able to have a good laugh among all the work and learning.
Day 3. Treen with Twiggy. Treen is something I do all the time however I knew there would be much to learn from someone as experienced and lovely as Twiggy. Like perfecting my gypsy rose techniques and how to store the wood to be able to get really strong petals.
Day 4. Coppicing with James Benson from leeds coppice group and Sam Ansel.
didn’t manage to take any pictures for this one unfortunately as it was a really lovely site.
The final day we had the option to choice from a list of different half day workshops, which included blacksmithing, besom brooms, rope making, willow weaving, spoon carving and sharpening. i had a go at the blacksmithing and willow weaving which was great fun and learnt a lot.
I shall certainly be back next year for one of the other courses!
http://leedscoppiceworkers.co.uk/
2carvedspoons 