Woodland Pioneers 2010 - 13th to 17th September.

[monkeeboy]

Woodland Pioneers 2010 - 13th to 17th September.

Download the leaflet and booking form.

Woodland Pioneers 2010 has been set to run from Monday 13th September until Friday 17th September 2010 and is intended to target people who are interested in the apprenticeship scheme and woodland crafts. See photos from previous years and more information about the apprenticeship on the website.

Four one day courses for all newcomers: Treen, making small wood items (Twiggy), Green wood stool making (Ian Taylor), Riven oak panels (Owen Jones), Coppicing skills (Rebecca Oaks).

Advanced workshops Make your own shave horse (Maurice Pyle), Stick chairs (James Mitchell), Earthburn charcoal (Brian Crawley), Curragh demonstration (Edward Acland).

Friday is an open day with various short woodcraft workshops including: tree identification, willow work, mallet making, hurdles, besoms and tool care, plus a chance to hear more about the apprenticeship and to register interest. If you are only able to make one day then why not come along on Friday?

Cost is £150 - £220, you pay as much as you can afford.
There is an extra charge of £25 for those people wanting an accredited certificate from "Acentis" (Formerly the Open College North West).

Camping is on site in the woods, with toilet/shower facilities provided. The course cost includes lunch everyday, with breakfasts and dinners supplied for a small extra cost.

[forestdesigns]

Hi all. Has anyone taken this course? I´m interested to hear some feedback as I´d like to take some kind of greenwood couse in September.
It sounds varied & interesting although living in the north of Spain I don´t think I could actually practice the coppicing skills regularly.

[robin wood]

Hi all. Has anyone taken this course? I´m interested to hear some feedback as I´d like to take some kind of greenwood couse in September.
It sounds varied & interesting although living in the north of Spain I don´t think I could actually practice the coppicing skills regularly.

I have not done it but know several that have, it sounds like a good varied general introduction without going into anything in particular detail. Some of the course tutors are top notch and frankly £150-200 for 5 days is very cheap. If you know what you want to do then a more targeted course may be better but like a mini art foundation course this gives a taster of a range of stuff.

[forestdesigns]

That about sums up what I´ve been thinking, the price is definetly good, but a more focused in depth course would be good although I´m honestly not to sure what that would be. I´d love to take a course with you Robin, not that I plan to specialize in spoons, but it would be good to focus on axe & knife work, although I´ve checked & your September couses Are booked. Hmmmm... El Camino de Santiago (The Saint James Way) is another interesting way to spend a month, & it does pass by my front door!
I´m hoping something local will present itself this summer... I´m ready to learn from a knowledgeable teacher now, I wonder where he/she is hiding?

[robin wood]

How about Spanish splint basketry, a wonderful craft an serious decline. Lluis Grau is the man to teach you. http://www.casa-dos-artesans.com/aboutus.html
Lluis is an ex monk who has dedicated his life to learning the many different techniques of basketry of Northern Spain.

[forestdesigns]

The truth is I´ve been looking into this course, I can´t really get a handle on the prices though... not to clearly stated or I´m just refusing to believe what I´m seeing. It seems it may be cheaper for me to travel to the UK than to take classes locally in Spain?... doesn´t seem right. I suppose I should just email them to ask

A bit off topic, but I´m curious as to Nicolas ideas & research about distance learning. I´ve seen her website awhile back & would like to know more, are there any other links or previous posts you can direct me to?

[forestdesigns]

Another bonus of the basketry course is that it´s close to Santiago de Campostella (campostella=field of stars) the destination point of The St. James Way. I´m very far from being catholic, but this was an old European pilgrimage with loads of pagan catholic mix. The point is I´ll either go on the way (about a month on foot) or take a course... or perhaps both!

[robin wood]

Don't know about the rest of the route but around where Lluis and Anna are the pilgrimage is mostly on busy roads and you see pilgrims every few hundred yards, it doesn't look much fun to me. I wouldn't worry about advertised courses and costs so much just ask if you can go and work for free and pay a little toward cost of teaching, fit in and help out and it could work out mutually beneficial. They are lovely folk though they obviously have to make a living.

[monkeeboy]

It would be a shame to have to travel to the UK for a craft course, but I cannot recommend Woodland Pioneers highly enough.
It is an absolute bargin and very inspirational, plus the food and general craic is awsome.

Try to find somehwere local first though, sustainability lies in localisation.
If you were to come to the Uk you should probably stay for a while and attend as many well-priced courses as possible.

Mike

[forestdesigns]

I´ve been in contact with Anna & Lluis a number of times now, & I will be taking a split basketry course with Lluis sometime this autumn I think & fill follow up in the winter if I can with a kind of exchange we´ve been talking about! This is fantastic news for me as I wish to learn & focus on a craft (which craft... I still don´t know), but as a parent I have the obligation to work when I can & make that money stretch through the winter when work is scarce here these past years.

However, I´m still considering the Woodland Pioneer course! As I´ve said, I feel I´m ready to dedicate myself to a woodcraft... but which? This does seem like a good chance to see a variety of things. I´m particularily interested in the course Owen Jones day is offering on a riveted an oak fence panel, as it is directly linked to split basketry!

Now I´ve got to thinking if I follow that up with a swill basketry course Owen is offering a few weeks later at his home in Cumbria. This would teach me the basics of cleaving etc, which is a task I have never tried but can´t wait to sink my teeth into!

So here´s my question... Does it sound like a good idea to focus my introduction on one area of woodcraft (split basketmaking with Lluis & Owen) or should I try a wider variety? Or perhaps a wider variety will only lead to more indecision & a lack of focus... & an eventual loss of interest trying to practice to many new crafts afterwards at home? What has experience shown you... what tends to work with students... when do they fail to dedicate...

[forestdesigns]

One more question... Mike do you have a email contact for the Woodland >Pioneer course? I´ve send a message to the address in the leaflet,but it has been returned... says that the contact can´t be found.

[monkeeboy]

Danny,

The email address on the leaflet, info@coppiceapprentice.org.uk, is correct, maybe you made a typo?

The course Owen runs is also absolutely fantastic, and you will not only learn about basketry but also try out a few other generic techniques that are used in other crafts. I have done Owen's course and I found it to a real eye-opener, it makes you think about wood, in this case Oak, in a different way. It definitely gets you thinking about the possibilities of wood, and you get to take home a beautiful Swill Basket.

If you're still thinking about Pioneers you need to hurry up, it is almost completely booked up!

Mike

[forestdesigns]

After too much internal debate I´ve finally decided to take a one on one split basketry course with Lluis Grau! I should be attending in mid September... in fact on the same dates as the Woodland Pioneer course. The same day I made this decision I had emails from both Rebecca Oaks, of Woodland Pioneers & from Owen Jones the swill basket maker. Both of the courses are full on the dates I was asking for information about, so it seems I came to the right decision in the end. Good luck to those attending the Woodland Pioneers, as well as the swill basket courses... & please post some feedback in the future, as I hope to attend these in the future!

[monkeeboy]

This course is now completely booked up.
There may be some last minute cancellations, so it might be worthwhile putting your name down on the reserve list if you're desperate.

Next years Woodland Pioneers will be held at a similar time, usually the 2nd week in September.

Please check the BHMAT website for details next year.

[monkeeboy]

Just to update.

Woodland Pioneers 2010 was, once again, very successful.
Despite gale force winds at the beginning of the week which scared the wits out of some of the campers.

There's plenty of pictures on the BHMAT website.

Anyone who's interested in next years event can contact BHMAT for details, it always books up so if you're desperate to come get your name down early.