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| Willow panels woven around hazel rods drilled into the chestnut posts make great shapes, and look good on both sides. |
The Armadillo Hut
The 'Armadillo' is a woodland hut, it was built by volunteers at Clissett Wood in Herefordshire, England for people to stay in when greenwood chair making courses are running.
The frame of the hut is built from sweet chestnut in the round and is dug into the clay bank. It has a shingle roof and a larch sleeping platform inside. In April 2011 Sheila Wynter, a basket maker from Stroud and myself (artist Elizabeth Cadd) worked on re-fronting the structure with coloured willows. Instead of doing traditional rectangle woven panels we decided to go a bit freeform to make use of the organic shapes.
We used coppiced materials from the sustainably managed surrounding woodland. Hazel poles create the framework to weave through, and different willows created contrasting panels of colour and texture.
We will be building a similar 'play hut in Sheilas garden this spring for her grandchildren (she is 80 this year)!
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| Me with Sheila and Gary (cherub like in the centre window) working on the Armadillo hut April 2011). |
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| Willow panels of the Armadillo |
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| Rod working on the firey willow panel |
There was also the
renovation of 'The Whale' hut. This has a lovely whale shape. A massive
3 pronged sweet chestnut fork which lies on the ground gives the
framework to the entire structure. We used fresh hazel rods again , bending them to create curved sides, then wove fairly thick wills along the length of the sides and roof. A long job! It creates a beautiful dappled light inside. We were hoping to cover this with a clear polythene so the structure could still be seen. The bed platform is made of oak boards, and a hazel panel stands at the entrance.
  More photos of this Development Week 2011 at Clissett Wood, Herefordshire on the Clissett Wood Facebook Group  |
| Rebuilding the surround for the cooking stove. |
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| Tarp going on.. |
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| Peter on the roof. |
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| Richard and Peter unfurl the tarp on the new kitchen. |
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| Erecting the new larch frame kitchen |
