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"Make me something beautiful..."

“Make me something beautiful…”

by Angus, 7 June, 2019, 0 comments

Ever since neolithic times humans have been making beads.  Gareth Riseborough is copying the methods that stone age man (and woman!) would have used to make beautiful jewellery.  By studying archeological remains and by experimenting with what works he has shown that you can use stones from your woodland, or from a beach, to create fashionable ornaments. At the 2019 Bushcraft Show in Derbyshire Gareth showed me how he makes beads from Kimmeridge Shale which he found in Dorset on the Jurassic coastline.  Read more...
Paddle-making course at Sylva's Wood Centre, near Oxford

Paddle-making course at Sylva’s Wood Centre, near Oxford

by Angus, 22 May, 2019, 0 comments

"Why did you spend two days of your life and about £200 to make a paddle?" asked a friend after I got home from this weekend course in Oxford.  Obviously I'd failed to explain that this was about much more than just planing and sanding a single piece of ash wood into a nice paddle.  For me, it was more like a holiday - getting away from computer screens for two days, spending time with my grown-up son (who made his own paddle) and learning how to use edge tools properly.  It was also about meeting a group of half a dozen like-minded individuals each hungry to learn new skills in woodworking.  When I showed my beautiful paddle to my sceptical friend and told him about the people I'd met, he understood better and even said he wanted to go on the same course. Read more...
"Bird by Bird" - about the threats to wild birds

“Bird by Bird” – about the threats to wild birds

by Angus, 17 May, 2019, 0 comments

Jayne Ivimey and Julia Blackburn have put together an amazing exhibition that makes grown ups cry.  It describes the plight of wild birds in the face of human activities from oil spills and pesticides to loss of habitat from climate change.  The official RED LIST is the list of seriously endangered species and the number of birds on it has recently grown from 36 to 70, so that extinctions now seem almost inevitable for some with humans as the perpetrators.  But this is more than just a lament: it is also a celebration of what the authors call the "miracle of the gift of flight" and the magic of birdsong.   Woodland birds play an important role in the roster of the 70 birds that Jayne has recreated in clay. Read more...
Ten surprising facts about Christmas traditions and Christmas around the world

Ten surprising facts about Christmas traditions and Christmas around the world

by Angus, 18 December, 2018, 0 comments

1.  In Brazil, where Christmas falls in the summer, Brazilians often put cotton wool on pine trees to represent the snow that often falls in  Europe and America 2.  When Christmas cards were invented in Britain in 1843 the first print run was 1,000 which were priced one shilling each, in today's money that would be equivalent to £6, though as an antique one of them recently sold at auction for around £8,000 3.  Christmas is associated with snow and lots of snowflakes fall in the US each year - typically one septillion which is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000  (one with 24 zeros) Read more...
A trip to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew

A trip to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew

by Chris, 6 November, 2018, 0 comments

A small contingent set off from Woodlands HQ in SE London to visit Kew Gardens.  A trip to Kew is always a pleasure but there were a number of things that had induced us to face the rigours of the South Circular - notably The restoration of the temperate house The exhibition of “a legacy of ancient oaks” by Mark Frith A visit to the gallery of Marianne North’s paintings / work It was a beautiful sunny but autumnal day  We arrived and accessed the car park near the river via Ferry Lane (where there are a good number of disabled spaces - which is not always the case at certain public venues / attractions).  A short walk took us to the Brentford Gate and into the gardens.  For those with limited mobility (or stamina), there is a Kew Explorer stop nearby.   Here you can board the Kew Explorer Land train which runs each day between 11 am and 3 pm.  A complete tour of the Gardens takes  about 40 minutes and ticket holders can get on and off at any stop on the route, re-boarding the ‘train’ when ready. Read more...
the wand maker

Making a woodland Wand at Hallr Wood Forest School, Somerset

by Angus, 3 June, 2018, 1 comments

"When you make a wand," explains Arthur, "you should describe it by the wood that it's made from, its length and then its core (if it has one).  This one's a hawthorn 11-inch and I got the wood from Hallr wood, where we run Wilder Woods Forest School."   Arthur made his first wands when he was 17 including one lovely long dark wand which he was carrying with him when we met - "it's an 'Ebony 12-and-three-quarter-inch" .    Arthur turns wands on a lathe and finishes them with shaping and applying a finish. Read more...
Carving a spoon with "Barn the Spoon"

Carving a spoon with “Barn the Spoon”

by Angus, 29 May, 2018, 1 comments

Barney or "Barn the Spoon" has become an icon and cheerleader of the emerging hobby of spoon carving and spoon making.  I met him at the Bushcraft Show in Derbyshire and was immediately drawn in by his obsession with the art - he must dream of nothing but spoons and knives.  As Barn says, "think how many times a day you use a spoon and it's the first tool we learn to use as children."  When it comes down to it, spoons are really bowls with handles. Spoon making is about much more than just carving something useful - it's about the wood itself, the actions of an individual and making a thing of beauty.  Becoming a spoon maker also brings you into intimate contact with wood and it makes you part of what Barn has called "the wood culture renaissance".  Techniques that you learn from your spoon-carving tutor are "gifts that can never be taken away." Read more...
Scrabble blog : Part 2 letters I – Q by Bella and Stuart.

Scrabble blog : Part 2 letters I – Q by Bella and Stuart.

by Stuart Brooking, 3 March, 2018, 1 comments

Some further woody related words to impress your scrabble playing friends with! I: Iceni: A tribe of ancient Britons inhabiting an area of south-eastern England in present-day Norfolk and Suffolk. Their queen, Boudicca, led an unsuccessful rebellion against the Romans in AD 60. SCORE = 7 Igneous :  A type of rock, formed from solidified lava or magma. SCORE : 8 Ingle: A domestic fire or fireplace. SCORE: 6 Inglenook: A small recess that adjoins a fireplace. SCORE: 14 Read more...

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