Make a Shave Horse Course ~ 28 - 29 October 2017 | |
 | |
 Shaping billets for turning frame parts on the pole lathe. |  Sycamore side panels with a useful natural curvature. |
 Drilling holes in the body for the legs to go in. |  Turning components for the frame on the pole lathe. |
 Frame components turned on the pole lathe. |  Frame panels drilled for fitting the turned components. |
 An assembled frame. |  Frame fitted to horse. |
 Natural-style legs fitted to horse. |  A completed shave horse. |
Chair-making Course ~ 9 - 14 September 2017 | |
 The start of a course in chair-making. | |
 Gerti. |  Keith. |
 Michael. |  Bending the rear legs after steaming |
 Work progresses. | |
 Sweet Chestnut back laths. |  Cutting mortises. |
 Assembling a chair frame. |  Assembling a chair frame. |
 Tea-time! |  A smoky haze in the kitchen shelter. |
 Weaving an Elm bark seat. |  Weaving an Elm bark and Camba seat. |
 Three ladder-back chairs completed; a child's chair, and two arm chairs. |  Avril returned to fit rockers to her chair. |
Stool-making Course ~ 5 - 7 August 2017 | |
 The start of a course in stool-making. | |
 Cleaving out the components. |  Shaping the rungs. |
 Shaping the rungs. | |
 Rungs nearly completed. |  Using a tenon cutter. |
 Rungs drying in the box atop the clay oven, with kettle on the stove for a cuppa. | |
 Shaping the stool legs. | |
 Drilling a mortise. |  Drilling a mortise. |
 Assembling a stool frame. |  An assembled stool frame. |
 Weaving a seat. |  Trimming the tops of the legs with a Japanese saw. |
 Two stools completed and frames for three tall stools completed. | |
 An Elm bark seat completed. |  An Elm bark and Sea-grass seat completed. |
 Two low stools completed, and a bonus spatula. |  Two tall stools completed. |
Introduction to Green Woodwork Course ~ 30 July 2017 | |
 Magnus and James with their final products. | |
Introduction to Green Woodwork Course ~ 8 July 2017 | |
 Marcus shaping a spatula. |  Jane shaping a spatula. |
 Stephen working on a pole lathe. |  At the end of the day. |
Chair-making Course ~ 17 - 22 June 2017 | |
 Camping in the woods for some of the participants. |  Crosscutting an Ash log to length for cleaving. |
 Shaping with a draw-knife. |  Shaping with a draw-knife. |
 Checking the curve on the legs. |  Setting the curve on the back splats. |
 Drilling a mortise. |  Assembling a mortise and tenon. |
 Cutting a mortise for a back splat. |  Coffee time! |
 Assembling a side. |  Both sides assembled. |
 Spindle back assembled. |  Lath back assembled. |
 Ladder-back chair assembled. |  Spindle-back chair assembled. |
 Weaving the seat. |  Weaving the seat. |
 The final stages. | |
 The finished chairs - well, almost! A very fine variety of chair styles. | |
Stool-making Course ~ 27 - 29 May 2017 | |
 Cutting an Ash log to a size ready for cleaving with a traditional two-person cross-cut saw. | |
 Shaping the stool legs and rungs with draw-knives. | |
 Drilling the mortises. |  Weaving a seat. |
 Finished stool with Elm bark seat. |  Finished stool with Kamba
Plaited palm leaf
seat. |
 Finished stool with Kamba and Elm bark seat. |  The course participants with their stools. |
Bere Alston and Horrabridge Scout Groups Woodcraft Weekend ~ 20 - 21 May 2017 | |
 Local Scouts having a lesson in making stakes for fencing around coppice stools to protect from Deer. | |
 Driving in a stake for a Deer fence. |  Driving in a stake for a Deer fence. |
 Setting up a bivouac tent. |  Cooking breakfast on Sunday morning. |
Summer 2017 | |
 A new circular log-drying stack - setting out the base. |  A new circular log-drying stack - partially constructed. |
 Stripping Elm bark for a chair seat. |  Weaving an Elm bark seat. |
 An additional workbench for the workshop shelter. | |
 The new gate with new bank and Chestnut fence. |  A clearing with newly-planted Sweet Chestnut saplings. |
 Batchelor Bridge completed, named in honour of the maker of the bridge, Justin Batchelor. | |
 Five stacks of completed Sweet Chestnut shakes
Shakes are produced by cleaving, whereas shingles are produced by sawing.
, about 100 shakes in each stack. | |
Easter Woodland Development Week ~ 15 March - 22 March 2017 | |
 Getting the equipment into place for the coming Week. |  Camping in the woods for some participants. |
 Preparing timber for a footbridge. |  The beginnings of a footbridge over the stream. |
 Working on the footbridge. |  The completed footbridge over the stream. |
 A new gate, made in the woods. |  Hanging the new gate. |
 First stage in splitting a log to make roofing shakes
Shakes are produced by cleaving, whereas shingles are produced by sawing.
. |  Going for it! |
 Cleaving a Sweet Chestnut log to make roofing shakes
Shakes are produced by cleaving, whereas shingles are produced by sawing.
. |  Further cleaving on a cleaving brake. |
 Trimming with a hand axe. |  Trimming the shakes with draw-knives. |
 The shake factory! | |
 Another view of the shake factory! |  Trimming and checking. |
 A stack of completed roof shakes ready for the utility shelter. | |
 Time for a tea break. | |
Spring 2017 | |
 Rear legs and back laths in their setting jigs for a commission of a set of dining chairs. | |
 Four of the chair frames assembled. | |
 Andy with an almost-completed seat. |  Two of the chairs with completed seats. |
 The complete set of six dining chairs fully finished and ready for the customer. Click this button for a slide-show of the complete process of making these chairs
| |
 Andy demonstrating green woodwork at the Mothers' Day Craft Fair, Morwellham Quay. | |
 Items for sale at the Mothers' Day Craft Fair. |  A fine crop of Wood Garlic at Sallerton Wood. |
 More progress with the surfaces of the entrance and parking area. | |
 Further progress with the carpark ~ scalpings laid down. |  A clearing made to accommodate some Sweet Chestnut saplings. |
 The first Wild Daffodils opening this spring. |  Lesser Celandines. |
 Chestnut rounds ready for cleaving out shingles to roof the utility shelter. |  Hazel coppice tied to encourage curved growth for future walking sticks. |
 A picking of Wood Garlic leaves to have with dinner. |  More splitting... a good pile of Ash ready for another firewood stack. |
Winter 2016/2017 | |
 Two drying stacks for firewood logs, one of them circular. | |
 Entrance to the car parking area graded. |  Car park area landscaped and graded. |
 Using the tractor to lift a Larch log onto trestles. |  Milling Larch logs. |
 Brewing up on the rocket stove. |  Wych Elm saplings planted in a coppiced area. |
 Bere Penisula Woodland Conservation Workshop - coppicing. | |
 Coppicing. |  Coppicing. |