Workshop antics

Thanks to Martin for these early morning workshop photos (aka my night in shining amour for saving us from numerous pubs and helping me make my chair when it all got too much for me)

Mama Mia! Linda in her PJs, mamalade for breakfast...




Coronet Cuties!

Something in the woods - Aug 2009

Ro on her new shave horse "Radish".

Steve with his new Shave Horse, Go Papa!



Max with his ash ladder back for his God son Alex.


Martin with his turned ash ladder back.


Jo with her Elm table.

Matt with his John Brown inspired welsh stick chair design in elm and ash.



Linda, oiling her Welsh Stick chair.

Liz with the completed bench for the Fisheye Web Design company.


Some of the group with their creations... more pictures to follow soon

Sketches at Clissett Wood workshop

Clissett Wood Chair Making Course 9-15July

Another good week of chair makers, two return students making more ambitious projects - one being a giant bar stool. A lovely group of blokes camped in the evenings despite the rain needing barbecues and beer. My Fisheye bench lined up with the bones for the fish spine to go across the back of the bench. I also made a small cherry ladder back with wych -elm bark seat, mostly built at home, but you can see me on the far right of the photo lineup.

8th July - Greenwood Weekend Intro

Weekend intro to Greenwood working. Heather made the top of her bench from oak. Most other course members made a stool, either with turned legs on the pole lathe or freeform shaped legs. Matt, our new volunteer cook makes a third attempt at a stool after 2 mis-haps drilling the acute angles for his freeform stool. Whilst Rachel weaves wych-elm bark seat to her stool tutored by Paul Morton who supplies Wych Elm Bark for seating.

Sculptural Seating Course 23 - 28th June 09

Lovely Linda with her garden seat, Mark with his 5 seater family bench, Hazel with her childs chair, and Pauline with her ash seat.

Handmade knife from John

On Sunday, John gave me a knife he'd made for me overnight. My first knife, so this is pretty special. It has a 2.5" blade, a handstitced moulded leather sheath with drainage hole at the bottom and holly handle. It's not stainless steel so I've got to look after it he said. Thankyou John. In return I'm designing his leatherwork and metal stamps including an ash leaf and J, so watch this space.

The Fisheye Bench...seat in progress

Finishing the oak seat for the Fisheye bench (Fisheye design company I do a lot of work with badly need a bench to sit on)...maybe this summer they'll finally get one.

View from Clissett Wood - June 26th 2009

Garden & workshop in summer - late June 2009

Eddie's Kitchen cabinets and worktop

Clissett Wood 15th Anniversary Party (June 2009)

The beautiful woodland kitchen, where everything revolves around enjoying good food..




Clissett Wood, sometimes the best place in the world for laughing, eating, drinking and making wonderful things!

View from Clissett Wood - June 7th 2009

Simons Bridge - Spring 2009

Welsh Stick Chair Making - May 2009

Ro, Matt, Me (Liz), Jonathan, Richard making Welsh Stick chairs and freeform chairs on a 5 day workshop at Clissett Wood with Gudrun Leitz.


Ro with her new "wildform chair".


Ro's chair and my little chair (it's an apprentice piece ...and here it is finished and oiled....Ahhh



I also made some turned hair pins - as I've always got my hair up out of the way of the fire!

My willow sculpture Clissett Wood Spring 2009

April 2009 - Shingling party at Clissett Wood

Matt, Neil, Simon and Grenvil putting the final shingles on the new roof for a woodland hut.

Clissett Wood Course - Aug 2008

Jenna is a BHMAT apprentice learning coppice crafts and came to Clissett Woods to learn about making furniture.

Thomas discusses his chair



Mark adding the rockers to his ash chair with bark seat


Will puts the final touches to his oak bench with padels, and our evenings entertainment playing with fire - more images here

Ash Ladder Back

Made in August 2008, my first ash ladder back with rush seat in progress.

Wood Wool Sculptures

Exploring shapes and textures occuring in nature.
(Ash wood, Jacobs wool felt)

A series of fire pictures from the woods

click here

First Chair by Liz - June 2008

Greenwood chair - oak seat, cherry side uprights, hazel centre panel ,
sweet chestnut top rail, Ash legs.

Greenwood bench in ash and beech

Oak Gate Hurdle

Made on the BHMAT September 2007 course in Cumbria with Owen Jones (Swill basket maker)

Oak stool from a log

Oak Stool made in September 2007

Shave Horse

Shave Horse built June 2007 (with Louis the cat)

The Pole Lathe

The Pole Lathe built in April 2007

3 years of hedgelaying at Kennelwood, Nantwich

Late November 2004 saw the beginning of my work at Kennelwood, which runs alongside the Nantwich Road near Combermere, North Shropshire/ South Cheshire.



Kennelwood is an organic site, growing and selling hay from their wildflower meadows. Richard Smith the owner of Kennelwood, asked me to start laying his 'new' 8 year old hedges, planted between 1995 and 1997. Approximately 2 miles of hedgerows surrounding the meadows were planted in wide double rows, 1 meter apart, using 18 species of native broadleaves and shrubs, a massive 26,000 hedging plants and trees in total. (Plant list at end of article.) The ideal habitat for all sorts of wildlife has been carefully developed along with some assistance from the Stewardship Scheme.



Hedgelaying in blocks of between 80 to 200 yards, and leaving the same length in between each block till the following year, allowed wildlife to take some shelter nearby, and stagger the regeneration work around the site.


Having done many Conservation Volunteer Holidays with the BTCV, and leading groups on residential hedgelaying weeks, I was up for the task, but still, nevertheless, a little daunted at the size of the job ahead. The unusual meter width gap between the two rows meant having to adapt the traditional West Midlands style or Bullock hedge into a double-sided A-shaped Midlands style, which seems to keep it's shape well, looks great from both sides, and still forms a rigid stock proof barrier.


The winter grazing sheep are not encouraged to nibble the hedge, however tasty it may be - post and rail fences are currently being put up to act as a wildlife corridor, and allow a wider variety of wild flowers to grow in the cover of the hedge.


This year will be the third year of hedgelaying at Kennelwood, and will mean all 1 mile of the new hedgerows will have been laid by February 2007. An acheivement which I am really proud of and proud to be part of such an ambitious scheme. I must admit though, to being slightly taken aback when asked to start relaying the new growth from the first year after I'd done all that!


Species of Native Broadleaves and shrubs planted in new hedges at Kennelwood 1995/97.
Acer Campestre
Carpinus Betulus
Cornus Sanguinea
Corylus Avellana
* Crataegus Monogyna
Euonymus Europaeus
Malus Sylvestris
Prunus Avium
Prunus Cerasifera
Prunus Padus
* Prunus Spinosa
Rhamnus Frangula
Rosa Canina
Rosa Rugosa
Viburnum Lantana
Viburnum Opulus
Ilex Aquifolium
Lonicera Periclymenum
* 60% of planting