Category Archives: Scytherspace

Woman mowing wheat

It’s unusual to see old pictures of women mowing so this great photo merits it’s own post.  Note that she’s holding the snath by the shaft it’s made for someone taller than her and there’s no cradle or bow on … Continue reading

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Austrian Scythe Association end of year dinner

I’m in Austria this week and have just attended the Sensenverein Osterreich (Austrian Scythe Association) end of year dinner which Christiane Lechner and I were invited to by Walter Blumauer. The association has 220 members of which 31 turned out … Continue reading

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Koseni 2011 Czech Republic – pictures

The pictures from this years mowing fortnight in the Czech Republic are now online here. Great memories for me of the week that Christiane and I spent there, mowing and making hay with the other volunteers in a special conservation … Continue reading

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Where do you peen?

When I was living out in the sticks of North Devon, peening my scythe was never a problem. The nearest neighbours lived over a mile away and I could hammer away to my heart’s content. Now I live in a … Continue reading

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Hay rescue in Transylvania

During the summer, Christiane Lechner and I set off for the far east of Romania to attend the International Haymaking festival at Gyimes in the White Carpathain mountains of Transylvania. During the week we learned a huge amount about haymaking, … Continue reading

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"Mowing" by Robert Frost

Winter time and the mowing season is well and truly over in my neck of the woods, hence the smaller number of posts (why not check out my green woodwork blog SteveTomlinCrafts which gets more active in the autumn and … Continue reading

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Apple Day 2011

Update 12/10/11: Unfortunately the National Trust today contacted me to say they have cancelled this year’s event due to the recent rain and condition of the fields. On Sunday 16th Oct I’ll be at Acorn Bank near Penrith for their … Continue reading

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Anna Karenina extras "scandal"

I got back last night from the second round of filming the mowing scenes for Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. While we were away somebody told us about that the filming had made the papers because of extras being supposedly underpaid. … Continue reading

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Improve Your Peening workshop

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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Mowing on Romanian TV

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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