A pictorial Diary of ongoing work at Sallerton Wood

Autumn 2016


Bere Alston Scouts attending a Woodland Craft Workshop on 30 October 2016.
 

Andy's stall at the Tavistock Goosey Fair.
 

A circular firewood log-drying stack.
 

A steamer for bending chair parts.
 

Chair-making Course September 10-15 2016


Cleaving an Ash log for curved chair legs.
 

Shaping a chair leg with a draw-knife.
 

Shaped chair legs and rungs.
 

Chamfering the ends of tenons on chair rungs.
 

steamed back splats put on a former for bending.
 

Bent back splats on the former.
 

Shaping the back splats.
 

Completed back splats.
 

Shaping the rear chair legs.
 

Curved front chair legs completed.
 

One side assembled.
 

Both sides assembled.
 

Cleaning a mortice.
 

Mortices for the back splats.
 

Fixing rungs and back splats to one side of chair.
 

Other side being fitted.
 

Weaving an Elm bark seat.
 

Seat nearly completed.
 

The completed chair.
 

Another style of chair made during the course.
 

Stool-making Course August 20-22 2016


Shaping the stool legs and rungs.
 

A set of rungs ready for drying.
 

The rungs in the drying box.
 

Assembling a stool frame.
 

Stripping elm bark for a seat.
 

Weaving a bark seat.
 

Weaving a sea-grass seat.
 

A sea-grass seat complete.
 

Workshop scene with stools nearly completed.
 

Elm bark stools completed.
 

A tall stool completed.
 

Happy stool-makers at the end of the course.
 

Summer 2016


Fitting cleft hazel rods to the end of the compost loo.
 

Thomas assembling a chair, assisted by Andy.
 

Testing the joints!
 

Two sides of a chair assembled.
 

Stripped Sallow bark for stool and chair seating.
 

Sallow logs after bark-stripping.
 

A new plate and mug rack for the utility shelter.
 

White sheets installed in the workshop shelter to improve lighting.
 

The start of another Green Woodwork Course.
 

Working away on the shaving horses.
 

This is fun!
 

Pole lathe instruction.
 

Pole lathe demonstration.
 

Giving it a try.
 

Further instruction.
 

Good progress on the pole lathe.
 

The products at the end of the day.
 

The very first 1-day Green Woodwork Course.
 

Ana using a draw-knife to make a spatula.
 

Belen using a pole lathe to make a rolling pin.
 

Belen and Ana with their final products.
 

A work bench for the workshop shelter.
 

Work bench with tool rack.
 

Removing outer bark from a freshly-felled Elm.
 

Removing 1-inch strips of inner bark.
 

Removing a 1-inch strip of inner bark.
 

Elm bark ready to use as stool or chair seating.
 

Utility shelter viwed from upstream.
 

New clear roofing above the sink.
 

First firing of the new clay oven and rocket stoves.
 

Fresh wood chippings for the utility shelter floor.
 

Fitting more rafters to the utility shelter.
 

Fitting more rafters to the utility shelter.
 

Spring 2016


Two new integrated rocket stoves made from clay from the Sallerton Wood claypit.
 

The rocket stoves and oven with a timber-drying cabinet fitted on top.
 

Arriving for another day's work in the wood.
 

The sink with its tap and pump (under the sink).
 

The utility shelter, with solar panel.
 

Solar panel for generating power to drive the water pump that raises spring water to the sink. It also doubles as a shelter for the clay oven.
 

Logs stacked in a coppice area.
 

Side-axe in use to make a small mallet for Thomas.
 

Steve and Simon spoon carving.
 

Hook knife in use to carve out spoon bowl.
 

Sallerton Wood sign-board in place.
 

Shelter with new wood stack windshield.
 

Completed clay oven.
 

Completed clay oven with door.
 

Easter Woodland Development Week ~ 26 March - 2 April 2016


Mixing the cob for the new clay oven.
 

Justin and Joe preparing to join the 3-part ridge beam for the new workshop shelter.
 

Chris fashioning chestnut stakes for the workshop shelter ties.
 

Lesley building the stone base for the oven with stones from the streambed.
 

Bryony chipping brash for the track.
 

Jonathan and Elliot fetching clay.
 

Morning ablutions in the woods!
 

The new table and benches in use.
 

Hannah and Ed putting the second (insulating) layer of cob onto the clay oven.
 

Laura planing a chestnut plank for new entrance sign for the woods.
 

Mixing up more cob (Andy & Thomas).
 

Simon with his freshly made tool benches.
 

Justin making the sink stand and framework for cupboards.
 

Ruby, Jess and Lily try their hand at some green woodwork.
 

The new workshop shelter complete with cleaving braces.
 

The completed workshop shelter from behind.
 

The oven left to dry out a little before raking out the sand former within and shaping the entrance.
 

The sink on its new stand.
 

One last cuppa brewing on the rocket stove before leaving the woods at the end of the week.
 

Thomas the happy young woodsman.
 

Spring 2016


Driving off with a trailer-load of chippings.
 

Track improvement with the chippings.
 

Chipping the coppice brash.
 

Compost loo - the inside story.
 

Using a draw knife to make a spatula.
 

Some completed spatulas.
 

Bere Peninsula Coppicing Workshop ~ 28 February 2016


Click here for a full report of the day's activities


Jonathan and son Elliot delivering extracted poles for the bark strippers.
 

Hannah stripping bark.
 

Making brash piles to be later chipped and then laid on muddy tracks around the woods.
 

Elliot trimming up some poles with a billhook.
 

Ruby and Jess bark stripping poles using draw knives for new workshop shelter (with brand new tarpaulin for the workshop in background).
 

Bark stripping brigade.
 

Ian sawing coppice.
 

Work party break for lunch.
 

Jenny coppicing.
 

Extracting poles to use in a new shelter.
 

Making the new benches for the utility shelter.
 

New table and benches in situ.
 

Thomas supervising again.
 

Jane at the log stack.
 

Winter 2015 / 2016


Four completed shaving horses, ready for use on courses and community workshops.
 

A completed shaving horse.
 

A completed shaving horse.
 

Shaving horse construction - legs ready to go.
 

Shaving horse construction - roughly-shaped bodies.
 

Shaving horse construction - turned components.
 

Shaving horse construction - completed frames.
 

Coppicing.
 

Coppice area.
 

Compost loo access construction.
 

Compost loo access complete.
 

A winter work party.
 

De-barking an Ash pole for the workshop shelter.
 

Planting a Wild Cherry, supervised by Thomas.
 

The Wild Cherry plantation, 30 trees in all.
 

A good day's work.
 

Sawing firewood logs with a new saw-horse.
 

Splitting the larger ones.
 

^Top of Page^