Forthcoming events and regular sessions
Spring flower walk and picnic. Newfield Spring Wood: Sunday April 22nd.
All welcome. Meet at entrance to Friends Field at 11.30am. Park in layby or meet in Meersbrook for car share and lifts. Bring a picnic to share. Wellies, boots or strong shoes advised as all the rain has made the field and paths very muddy.
An opportunity to enjoy a walk through this ancient woodland in blue bell time, appreciate the range of flowers and tender young tree leaves and learn about how it is being restored as a working woodland. We will see how the wood is being managed (by “women unboughed”) and see (and use) some products from the green woodworking workshops. We will have some activities to engage all ages with the beauty and ecology of the wood.
We can also hear more about the plans for the adjacent Friends' Field which we are restoring for organic food growing and ecological livelihoods. Please arrive at 11.30 as it may be difficult to find us if you are later.
Bow making workshops: Dates to be announced. Contact Heather or Neil Trinder:
NeilTrinder@yahoo.co.uk
Previous Events
Bow making weekend 7th/8th April
Neil Trinder offered a pilot workshop for a few of us lucky people making traditional bows from an ash tree we felled last November. We worked really hard with drawer knives, spoke shaves, made our own string for the bow and learnt new processes such as tillering, notching and servicing. Here are few photos showing a bit of the process and successful end product!
Volunteer day 31st March, Easter Saturday
11 people defied the drizzle and got stuck in continuing the job of fencing the top of the wood to keep the cattle out and replacing mulch around the orchard fruit trees. Good food and conversation was shared around a fire and for some, great fun egg rolling.
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| Sharpening holly stakes for the fence |
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| Egg rolling! |
Photos from work day in February
Bench making day in January
What a great start to 2018! 11 people joined Neil and myself on Sunday 8th January on a glorious crisp sunny day. We set up our work site outside the workers shelter with shave horses and saw bench and kept warm with an innovative fire bowl (up cycled wheelbarrow). Our materials were re-cycled scaffold boards and branches from an ash tree we felled in December. Working kept us warm too, all under the skilful tutelage of Neil.
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| Using a cross cut saw to cut the ash branches to length for bench legs. |
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| Draw knife concentration required to shape the taper on the legs. |
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| Our first bench ready to sit on for lunch! |
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| We used an axe, wedge and mallet to split the ash trunk ready to season for bow making workshops later in the year. |
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| Our youngest volunteer having a lunch break. |
