Another full day of work on the curach and suddenly it’s all come together. It’s amazing how long it’s taken to tie on all the laths and we’ve put quite a bit of time into getting the curves of the bow and stern just right using more of the hazel rods. This is going to make the boat what it is so it’s worth spending the time.
We did a final check and adjustment of all the couples positions then came the time to turn the curach over to work from the top – an easy job with such a lightweight boat, we’ll have to weigh it when the skins on.
While Ian and I trimmed and wedged the couples in their final position, Edward planed down the oars. Curach oars have a very particular design, only 2″ wide with a wide wooden block called a ‘bull’ which acts as the pivot. Since the thole pin passes through a hole in the bull it means you can release the oars while working without the danger of losing them.
It doesn’t sound like a lot but there’s a lot of thought in each step and some time spent just standing to admire our work so far. The fixed seat will go in next and then we’re on to fitting the canvas skin.
It’s not a joke; this year I am planning International Peening Day to take place on Sunday 1st April – clear your diary.
anticipation of the summer. Whether you get together with friends or peen on your own by the kitchen fire you’ll be adding to the global ringing of hammers on steel.
I wanted to learn how to weave the willow seat that I had found on the chairs made by David Drew. They had aged beautifully during their time in the Castle Drogo cafe and worn extremely well so I knew it was a perfect material.
We had a fantastic weekend at Phil’s workshop in Cockermouth talking about chair design, basketmaking and craft in general while he took us through the steps of weaving the seat with white willow.
This though, is no ordinary mower, it’s a Ransome’s Ajax push mower from the 1960’s with 12″ wide cutters, solid wood rollers and a heavy cast iron roller to the rear.
To encourage wildflowers, the grass sward needs to be kept short in spring, traditionally by grazing with livestock. Around late May, the meadow is ‘shut up’ (the animals removed) and the grass allowed to grow until it’s harvested for hay in late July. In autumn, the ‘aftermath’ (grass regrowth) is again grazed off with the action of the beasts’ feet creating bare patches of soil for seed germination. Obviously, there’s no finer way to harvest your hay crop than by scythe but what about the spring and autumn short-cropping? Well, in skilled hands the scythe will cut this too. I well remember a group of National Trust wardens watching in amazement as my Oriental blade cropped the grass on their machine-cut lawn. For a lot of folk though, it can be frustrating and doesn’t give them the neat look they want. That’s where the mower comes in. Use it in the spring when you want a close shave lawn then sit back and watch the meadow grow until the end of summer when the scythe comes out for harvesting.
Of course, to have a flower-rich meadow where for years there was nothing but ryegrass and swingball takes a bit more effort than simply not cutting the grass so much. I’ve still a lot to learn myself so I’m continuing my studies and plan to organise some haymeadow training days in 2012. If you’re interested in these, please send me an 
I was at Castle Drogo, a National Trust property in Devon where I was living at the time. After a fairly ordinary visit to the castle, I was amazed on walking into the cafe to see hand-made chairs at every table. Simple and beautiful post-and-rung ladderbacks with a single slat and obviously made from green oak with a woven willow seat. After sitting and examining them over my coffee I went to find someone who could tell me more about them. A chap at reception told me they’d been made about 20 years before but he couldn’t remember the name of the maker. Anyway, if I liked them then maybe I could buy one, he informed me, as the Trust were about to get rid of them.
A couple of weeks in a damp barn had given the chairs a coating of mould, especially on the willow seats and it took several days to wash each one with hot water and a solution of oxalic acid, clean and reoil the woodwork and carry out some minor repairs. After 20 years of hard work in a busy cafe this amounted to two broken rungs, damage to the top edge of some slats and a few worn willow rods, testament to just how strong and durable green wood chairs are. For me it was brilliant to work on them all, handling each one and getting to see how the maker had used even wood which was slightly bent or curved around a knot in order to make the most from his trees. I imagined how it would be to shave the 200 legs, 50 slats and 600 rungs for them and the feeling of watching them take shape. I was so inspired that I decided to try and track down the maker.
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