Turtle doves Christmas decorations

Posted on November 14, 2024 by stevetomlin

Two turtle doves are an essential part of your Christmas decor and these handmade wooden decorations are a sustainable option as well as adding a touch of handmade charm. Available in two sizes, they’re ideal for the Christmas tree or as window dressing.

My fan birds are based on a traditional European craft and all individually hand carved from a single piece of wood.

Visit my Etsy store to purchase your fan bird turtle doves decorations and see more of my work – there’s even an instruction guide if you want to learn to make your own Turtle doves handcarved decorations

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Spoon carving workshop 2024

Posted on September 30, 2024 by stevetomlin

I’m just back from a brilliant time teaching a spoon carving beginners course for a lovely group. Starting with a greenwood log of fresh silver birch, the day covered all the skills to carve with axes and knives. They made terrific spoons, ready for cooking!

My next workshop is on 19th Oct 2024 at Chorlton in Manchester. Book via Eventbrite: Spoon Carving workshop

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Scything with Patrick Grant

Posted on August 17, 2024 by stevetomlin

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to teach Patrick Grant of The Great British Sewing Bee, how to scythe at his home. Here’s his article for the Financial Times : Patrick Grant scythePatrick Grant scythe

Find out more about my Learn to Scythe courses and discover how to manage your land efficiently, safely and with no more strimmer noise and fumes.

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Scythe peening workshop 2024

Posted on August 9, 2024 by stevetomlin

I will be holding a scythe peening workshop at Bell Sykes Farm, Slaidburn, Lancashire on 4th Oct 2024. Learn how to peen a scythe using the jig and we will also cover making repairs and an in-depth look at sharpening.

Places cost £100, please email stevetomlin8[at]gmail.com to book

Note that this workshop is intended for existing scythers and will not cover how to scythe.

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Patrick Grant learning to scythe

Posted on August 5, 2024 by stevetomlin

Last week I was hired to teach Patrick Grant how to scythe at his home. The clothier, author and presenter of The Great British Sewing Bee is writing a new column for the Financial  Times Weekend about managing his land using traditional techniques and skills. Scything fits perfectly with this as a traditional method for managing long grasses instead of a strimmer.

He’s a lovely guy and a great student, quickly picking up the skills and neatly scything the lawn.

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Scything meadows at RHS Bridgewater

Posted on August 3, 2024 by stevetomlin

RHS Bridgewater at Salford is a new RHS Garden close to where I live so it was terrific to be asked to teach their staff how to cut a meadow using scythes.

During the workshop we looked at how to set up an Austrian scythe, how to hone and sharpen the blade and, of course, how to scythe long meadow grass efficiently and easily. We had a brilliant time and I look forward to going back to see how their meadows develop over the years.

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Cutting long grass with a scythe in Yorkshire

Posted on August 1, 2024 by stevetomlin

I’ve just been over near York, teaching the garden staff at Sledmere House how to cut the long grass in their meadows with a scythe.

The meadow is really well maintained and the team wanted to find a more sustainable method that is also still efficient – scything is the answer!

They all did an amazing job and I left 3 happy new scythers eager to carry on with their new skills.

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Fan bird carving instruction pdf

Posted on July 8, 2024 by stevetomlin

If you want to learn how to carve fan birds, I teach fan carving workshops and also have an instruction pdf available in my etsy store.

The Fan bird carving pdf download takes you through the step by step method I teach during my fan bird courses and workshops. Learning in person is much better but, if you can’t get to a course, the instructions will get you carving on your own.

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Learn to scythe book review

Posted on July 6, 2024 by stevetomlin

Although it is always best to learn practical skills in person, I recognise that not everyone is able to attend one of my Learn to Scythe courses.

The next best option is to learn from my Learn to Scythe book which I wrote back in 2014 and have since sold thousands of copies to happy scythers around the world. Here’s a great review:

This was given as a present for someone wanting to learn to scythe. It was easy to follow and he became fairly adept at scything quite quickly, to the extent that it became quicker to scythe awkward areas of longer grass than attempt to use any type of mower. So very successful, item also arrived quickly.

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Hay Time at Hebden Bridge 2024

Posted on July 1, 2024 by stevetomlin

Hay Time at High Hirst
Sunday 21st July – Sunday 4th August 2024


Experienced and/or enthusiastic scythers – and especially SABI members! – are keenly invited to help us mow our whole meadow this year.
Join us for a day or more on the edge of the delightful West Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge in our efforts to restore this ancient hay meadow. We’ll be mowing and haymaking from 9am into the evening each day, weather permitting*, over the two week period.

For further details or contact Neil Diment, High Hirst Woodmeadow Project Volunteer, e: neil@ndiment.co.uk or m: 07821 620680.

*N.B. If the weather forecast is poor, it would be advisable to call Neil – or check out the daily Hay Time post on the ‘High Hirst Woodmeadow Project’ Facebook page – before setting out for the day.
For those wanting to join us for more than one day, s/c hostel accommodation at £30/night is available just 5mins from High Hirst Woodmeadow on Sat 20th – Sun 21st or Fri 26th – Sun 28th July at the IOU Hebden Bridge Hostel. You can book via www.hebdenbridgehostel.org

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