A couple of gratuitous spoon shots from the weekend of my own spoons which I’d taken along to the course to inspire. There are eating spoons, serving spoons as well as a couple of little scoops. Some of them were made a while ago and others, like the willow server I was making during the individual tuition with Gareth where I’ve deliberately left the marks from the hook knife in the bowl, are brand new.
I spent this weekend teaching a spoon carving workshop for London Green Woodworkers based in Abney Park, Stoke Newington. Abney is a beautiful old cemetery full of headstones and monuments which has reverted to woodland over the years and is very atmospheric.
The group had all carved wooden spoons before but wanted some additional tuition to develop their skills and improve their spoons. Spoon design, sharpening, carving technique, ergonomics and finishing all made for a full and busy couple of days which I enjoyed a lot. One of the things I wanted to put over was to look more at their work as they carved and we made one of my eating spoons the focus of the weekend with everyone aiming to produce copies of it. This is a great way to learn and develop new shapes and techniques and the results all came out different and individual which represented each carvers own style. On the course was Joseph Bloor who is currently carving a spoon a day for a year and was keen to learn to improve his skills as part of that project.
We finished the weekend with a session of a Spoon Club game in which each person carves a spoon for 5mins before passing it to the person to their left who continues the work. This can be a challenging and exciting way to work as you’re faced each time with a completely new spoon and can’t get too attached to a piece. After an hour we each got our own spoons back, carved as a collaboration of the group.
It’s great to find such a fun and keen bunch doing greenwood work in the middle of London and sharing what they do through free drop in sessions
For any of you who missed it or would like to see it again, here is my appearance with Paul Heiney on the ITV Countrywise programme.
I’m pleased with how it turned out and think I managed to put my points across pretty well. Paul had a few attempts at his parts but I didn’t get any advance notice of what the questions would be or a chance to re-record what I said so it’s all off the cuff.
Watching it myself it’s interesting to see that Paul, like a lot of folk, expected it to be easy to use a scythe and the production team turned down my offer to spend some time teaching him how to scythe properly. Instead I had just a few minutes to show him the principles of the movement and I was actually quite pleased with his progress. During my Learn to Scythe courses, I make sure you have plenty of mowing time when I can watch and adjust your technique. Just like Paul, you won’t be an expert by the end of the day but you’ll have all the skills and knowledge you need to practise on your own and enjoy the process of improving your technique.
Teaching people how to carve spoons is always a pleasure but it’s great to be asked by an experienced carver to extend their skills.
Gareth has been carving for a few years now and teaching too. We talked at Sizergh Greenwood Fair about spooncarving and he asked there about some specific spoon carving questions which he wanted help with before booking a day of individual tuition with me.
I love teaching spoon carving to beginners but it’s even more exciting to teach someone with more experience and specific queries, it’s so great to be able to push someones skills and challenge my own carving and teaching.
I brought along a ‘gallery’ of spoons for inspiration but we quickly got carving. To start with Gareth wanted to watch me shape a blank using the axe and we covered how to form the intitial shape including the crank between the bowl and handle and using an adze to start hollowing the bowl. After that Gareth axed his own blank and we continued through the process of carving together. This highlighted other issues areas where either Gareth had a specific issue or I thought it was worth pointing out tips and ideas. This kind of atmosphere is great for exploring design and technical issues in carving so it’s also interesting as well for me as a greenwood carving teacher.
After dinner we spent some time on sharpening carving knive, hook knives and axes with Japanese waterstones. Looking at the edge through an eyeglass and understanding the process makes sharpening a completely new experience and is the foundation for great spoon carving. Gareth certainly seemed to discover new levels of understanding and sharpness for his knives.
Gareth made a great spoon, achieved a lot of learning and we had a terrific day together. It was only a shame that I was so busy teaching that I didn’t get my own spoon finished but that can be a treat for another day.
Elvaston Castle Wood Festival is probably one of the best shows in the country for seeing top-class craft in action and I’m always thrilled to be invited to demonstrate there.
This year I was showing visitors how to carve fan birds. They’re still relatively unknown in the UK so I enjoy demonstrating how they’re made and turning a small block of wood into a beautiful bird. Lots of folk can’t quite believe it’s a single piece of wood made without glue so I was kept busy demonstrating through the weekend.
Part of the attraction for me is to meet or catch up with other craftspeople from around the country and watch them in action myself. The full lineup covers everything from bowl-turning to wheelwrighting but I’ll mention just two here. I had the pleasure of having Owen Jones as my neighbour. Although Owen is also based in Cumbria, we most often meet at shows and it’s always lovely to sit and chat while he weaves beautiful oak swill baskets with such skill.
A real highlight was watching John Lord flint knapping. John is a piece of real living history, working to produce stone tools in the same way as neolithic man. I loved watching the concentration on his face as he worked through a stone, turning it over and over in his rough hands to consider the best place to release another shard.
One of the advantages of the scythe is that it is an all-weather tool and on my final scythe courses in Cumbria of 2013 we proved this right.
On Saturday a hardy group put on their waterproofs and faced the Cumbrian rain including Ken and Joyce who were on a round the world trip from their home in Australia. Ken told me they’d booked their tickets and then booked the Learn to Mow course as the second item and were enjoying the cooler weather in the UK! We did get a bit damp but it was mostly just heavy showers and didn’t get in the way of some great mowing in the post-haymaking grass.
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Then on Sunday, contrary to the forecast, the sun came out for a new group of scythe beginners. They carried on the mowing and the two groups got around three-quarters of the orchard cut. They could see how close they were to completing the job and I had to drag them away from it so we could go and do some peening. When was the last time you had to drag someone away from cutting grass with a strimmer?
Two very different days but two lovely groups of folk and the same satisfied smiles at the end of the day. I even had the pleasure of doing a bit of my own mowing on Monday to finish off the job.
Later this month I will be teaching a ‘Learn to Scythe’ course for beginners at Lancaster Castle. If you haven’t managed to get on one of my other courses this year and you’re keen to learn how to use a scythe, here’s your chance.
Thursday 26th September 10 am – 5 pm
with Steve Tomlin from Scytherspace
Venue: The Well Tower at Lancaster Castle and Vicarage Field
The ‘Learn to Mow Workshop’ will focus on practical skills development and learning-by-doing as participants will practice the ‘tai-chi’ mowing style on Vicarage Field near the Roman Bath House site.
The Well Tower at Lancaster Castle will serve as an indoor venue where participants will learn how to set up and adjust the scythe. The workshop will also cover theory and practice of sharpening and peening, blade care and maintenance.
During the cause of the day we will explore and discuss landscape management options for the urban green space from Lancaster Castle down to St Georges Quay.
Scythes, whetstones and peening equipment will be provided.
To book a free place please email Lucia.Marquart@lancashire.gov.uk at Beyond the Castle, Lancashire County Council or call 07887 831154. Please provide us with your height measurements when booking. Minimum age 18 years.
For Beyond the Castle please visit www.lancaster.gov.uk/beyondthecastle or www.facebook.com/beyondthecastle.
I spent the afternoon today being filmed for a piece on scything with Paul Heiney as part of a new series of Countrywise on ITV. It was great fun to do but very busy without the time to really teach Paul how to scythe though he seemed genuinely interested in learning and he was getting the hang of it even with just half an hour of practise.
This filming was quite a bit longer than when I was on Countryfile last year with John Craven and will be several minutes long when it appears on screen in the autumn. As well as filming Paul and I as we chatted, set up the scythe and mowed, the crew took the time to get some more artistic shots on camera which should look great as the meadow was looking lovely in the evening light.
Have a look at my Learn to Scythe courses if you fancy having a go yourself.
It’s a long drive from Kendal to the north-east of Scotland but it’s all worth it when you’re enjoying teaching people to scythe and the meadow is as nice as it was this weekend.
I was invited up to teach Basia, her husband Andy and neighbour Jane how to scythe on their smallholding north of Aberdeen. They have 5 acres, 2 of which are a lovely meadow with a good population of yellow rattle which will be made into hay. It was terrific mowing there with the large blue sky above us and the wind to our backs. The windrows looked beautiful and I was enjoying having a small group who I could give plenty of individual tuition to. Alex joined us on Sunday and quickly got the hang of mowing in the tai-chi style.
On Sunday we looked at using the scythe in other locations including trimming weeds around a newly planted hedge and clearing a really impressive field of thistles. Strimmers just get clogged up with this kind of work but, with the right technique, the scythe slices through them in a most satisfying way.
The final part of the weekend was peening the scythes with a discussion of techniques followed by some practise. Women are often put off by the thought of this so I was especially happy that Basia and Jane not only got the hang of it but enjoyed hammering as much as the blokes!
A lovely group who made me feel very welcome and loads of scything fun in a terrific setting; well worth the journey.
