While I’ve been away on holiday in Austria raking a hay meadow Edward and Romola have been busy at Sprint Mill painting the curach with bitumen roofing paint ready for the launch in Windermere on Sunday March 25th. Fingers crossed that three coats is enough.
The day finally arrived last week to skin the curach. To be honest, this is one of the parts we’ve had some trepidation about; the instructions we’re working with get a bit vague at this stage and sewing isn’t a key skill within the team. Nevertheless we set to and, as you’ll see from the photos, did a pretty good job.
Between this and the last meeting, Edward had fitted the fixed seat so there was nothing to stop us. We’ve chosen a single layer of 12oz canvas for this 10ft curach. Many craft use a heavier canvas or double skin but we want to keep it as light as possible and, as a boat for the Lake District, it will never have the beating that a true sea-going curach would. Fortunately, the canvas is available in wide enough pieces to go right across our hull without seams. Starting from the centre we stretched the canvas across the hull and tacked it in place using roofing nails. It’s tough on your hands trying to pull a 6ft wide sheet tight but tapping the skin afterwards we got a very satisfying sound which we took to mean it was good enough.
From there it’s a case of sewing in some tucks at bow and stern to fit the skin around the curved shape. A perusal of Edward’s little curach made by Jack Robinson revealed that he’d somehow fitted the skin without a single tuck but we were definitely going to need them. Even Ian was drafted in to do some sewing and gradually it all came together – we can each identify our own tucks from ten paces.
Everything will be coated with several coats of bitumen paint to waterproof it then there’s a few bits and pieces still to fit but otherwise it’s all there. The excitement is mounting, especially as we’ve now set a date for an official launch and rashly invited the local press to attend.
Can’t finish without an ‘admiring’ photo of Ian and Edward with our handiwork.
I’m on holiday this week in Austria and, with spring well on the way over here, Christiane and I spent a few hours together raking the meadow she mows. This is public land by the apartments where Christiane lives and which she has been managing since 2008. At 3500m2 it’s a decent piece of land to take care of with the scythe.
Raking is an important first job in the meadow to clear out rubbish, rocks and the dead grass which would otherwise form a tough thatch at the base of the sward. We also have chance to look at the vegetation in the meadow and get an idea of the mowing to come. Lots of long dead grass show areas of faster growing plants which should be mown first so they don’t get too long. New tussocky growth, patches of moss and the first signs of weeds all tell us something about the different areas.
As if the pleasure of being out in the sunshine doing enjoyable work with good company wasn’t enough, I found €20 dropped in the grass so ice creams all round to finish off the work!
Only two weeks now until International Peening Day on April 1st so, in preparation, I thought I’d offer some instruction on making a simple and lightweight peening bench. While the best support for a peening anvil or jig is probably a solid block set into the ground, a bench is a useful piece of kit. It takes up little space and can be easily taken to festivals or to a friend’s house for a pleasant afternoon’s peening.
It’s important that the anvil or jig sits on a post to carry the force of the hammer blows to the ground. Rather than a large log this can be a 4″x3″ or similar post which is then stabilised by adding the seat.
The seat rails are simply screwed into the seat and slide into a carved housing on either side of the post. Hazel sticks make effective back legs and knock out for transportation.
The exact dimensions of the bench will depend on your body. Adjust the seat height so you are sitting comfortably with your thighs parallel to the ground. The height of the top of the post is set to position the working surface of your jig or anvil in line with the top of your thighs so the blade can be supported by your legs while peening. I use a short flat anvil and a specially made extra-tall narrow anvil so my post has two levels, make yours to fit your equipment.
That’s it, get hammering!
Last summer my friend Susan came on one of my ‘Learn to Mow’ courses. A few days later I went over to her house to help her mow the grass on her own land. This gave me the opportunity to offer a bit of extra advice on her mowing technique. To aid with this I decided to film her so she could see the movements I was trying to raise her awareness of.
It was such a lovely day and the grass was cutting sweetly so I shot some extra footage and have finally got around to editing it into a short film. Keep in mind that Susan has had one day of tuition only a week or so before this. What I’m really pleased with is that Susan’s mowing is relaxed and comfortable; we’re working but we’re not sweating or straining. She’s cutting neatly and enjoying the process, the loudest things in this video are the birds and the wind.
This is what I teach people when they come on my courses and how I want them to experience mowing with a scythe.
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.
After 6 months languishing forgotten and unloved in the shed does your scythe need some loving care and preparation ready for the mowing season? Peening Day is an opportunity for us all to spend the time cleaning, sharpening and fine tuning our scythes so in 
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’ll be hosting an event at Sprint Mill, Cumbria from 10am. It’s not a training course (that’s 12th August) but a chance to peen together, pick up tips and talk scythes. Please bring your own kit, peening block, food to share and ear defenders!
I’m contacting mowers in Austria, Sweden, Norway, Czech Rep and Romania to make this truly international. If you’re organising your own event (even if it’s just you and the cat) let me know by leaving a comment.
Spoonfest, “the first international celebration of the carved wooden spoon” is taking place in Edale on 17-19 August. Hosted by my friends Robin Wood and Barn (the spoon) Carder it should be a wonderful weekend with of carving, learning and sharing. The line-up of teachers is growing and I’m planning to get along and teach something myself during the weekend. The best way to improve your spoon carving is to look at lots of spoons, see lots of people working and learn from the best and this event will give you all that and more.
Here’s the lads looking rightly pleased with themselves:
We’ve had a couple more meetings together to work on the curach project which is coming along nicely. To bend the hazel couples into shape for the ribs we discussed the use of steam and bending formers. As the width and depth of the curach change over it’s length each pair of rods needs a slightly different curve so I suggested instead that we simply pre-flex the rods in the area of the bend and then shape them by hand and eye.
This worked well and with a little practise we had a good system for fitting the couples and adjusting them to match the existing pairs. It’s a two person job at least, one to bend and adjust the rods and another to sight down the boat. Much better is to have three people so that two can wrestle the couples together. The advice to look for ‘light and fine’ rods is dead right as they allow much smoother bends to be made and once coupled up are strong enough. An invaluable aid was a pack of heavy duty reusable zip ties that were perfect for clamping the couples together quickly and tightly. This part of the build, to master bending the rods smoothly, set the depth and shape of the boat as well as working to achieve sweet smooth lines along the hull is undoubtedly the most difficult and a steep learning curve. We thought of a few improvements to the techniques which we’ll use on the next curach.
The next stage is to bend more rods in for the stern and lash them, the couples and the sawn lath stringers in place.
My course dates are now set for the year. It’s always a juggling exercise to fit everything in, especially as I have again been asked to attend scythe course and events around the UK and Europe. This year I’m aiming to run courses in some crafts that are otherwise under-represented. I’m particularly looking forward to the weekend on birch bark when we will dispel the myth that British bark is not good enough for box making and which I hope will act as a springboard for a new movement in working with this lovely tactile material.
My courses are based near Kendal in the glorious Lake District. Sprint Mill is a terrific place in it’s own right, full of old tools, wood and inspiration. There is accomodation nearby to suit any pocket, from camping and hostels to 5-star hotels.
For more information, visit my courses page. To book a place, please send me an email.
As well as greenwood work, I teach the modern art of mowing with a scythe on these popular courses in Cumbria and around the UK. For more information please visit scytherspace.
Please note: you must be over 18 to attend these courses.
