Monthly Archives: September 2011

Recovery kayak launching

Posted on September 27, 2011 by stevetomlin

My skin-on-frame recovery kayak attracted a fair bit of attention as soon as I drove into the campsite at Ullswater with it on the roof of the car. I was suprised how many people remembered and recognised it from 2 … Continue reading →

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Improve Your Peening workshop

Posted on September 24, 2011 by stevetomlin

I like peening for all sorts of reasons but one of my favourite aspects is the amazing rhythms which are created by several people peening scythes together. The hammering comes in and out of sync in a way I find … Continue reading →

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Skin on frame kayak

Posted on September 23, 2011 by stevetomlin

Way back in 2008, the guy I was working with asked me to go to the library and look for a book on currachs, Irish fame boats. Instead I found ‘The Aleutian Kayak’ by Wolfgang Brinck and fell in love … Continue reading →

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Damson spoons

Posted on September 21, 2011 by stevetomlin

The Lyth Valley, close to where I live is famous for it’s damsons which are out at the moment. It’s a good year in terms of the crop but difficult harvesting, I’m told because of the wet weather. I’ve used … Continue reading →

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Mowing on Romanian TV

Posted on September 11, 2011 by stevetomlin

Our group of hay-tourists certainly drew plenty of attention from the local media. During the week we were photographed and interviewed by two newspapers and filmed by a local news station, an independent film-maker working with the festival organisers and … Continue reading →

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Haymaking poem

Posted on September 9, 2011 by stevetomlin

I’ve been sent this poem by Neil Diment, community officer for the HayTime project in the North Pennines AONB. Neil was one of the participants on the Transylvania Haymaking Festival and writes, “Having, at long last, tried my hand at … Continue reading →

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A well used spoon

Posted on September 7, 2011 by stevetomlin

Nearly everything I make is designed to be used, whether it’s a chair, spoon, bowl or rake. I especially like it when someone meets me at a show and tells me how they’ve been using something they’ve bought from me. … Continue reading →

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Leela's rake

Posted on September 5, 2011 by stevetomlin

Last October I met Miss Kathloon Peart from Bishop Auckland who told me how she’d received her first hayrake when only 3 years old and had been making hay on her farm for the 50-something years since then. So I … Continue reading →

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Romanian Rakemaker

Posted on September 3, 2011 by stevetomlin

I’ve been in the Transylvania region of Romania taking part in an International Haymaking Festival. During the week we called in to visit Viktor-bacsi (an honorific for older people translated for us as “Uncle Viktor”) who, despite ill health makes … Continue reading →

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Transylvania Mowing Competition 2011

Posted on September 3, 2011 by stevetomlin

While the rest of the sports media was focussed on the World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea I was making my own debut representing my country on the international sports stage. This was the first Scythe Mowing Competition in … Continue reading →

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