Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 October 2017 at Newport House
On 16 October 1987 the Great Storm hit South-east England, sending trees crashing into the consciousness of the English nation. An unexpected result was a new generation of chair-makers, spoon-carvers and bowl-turners, who have rediscovered that it is possible to make a living by creating beautiful wooden items, straight from the tree.
At Out of Nature 2017, 30 years after the storm, a group of Herefordshire wood-craftspeople gathered to celebrate this blossoming of their heritage skills. Visitors saw fresh wood being transformed by hand into spoons, bowls, clogs, chairs, tent pegs and wooden fencing, and enjoyed a range of talks and discussions on the subject.
Saturday 14 October 2017
Mike Abbott: Intro to the weekend – The anniversaries of the Great Storm and The Woodland Charter
Glenn Morris (tree surgeon & sculptor): Six Months at 100 Feet: A tree surgeon’s view of the Great Storm
Matt Larsen-Daw (Woodland Trust, lead for The Woodland Charter): The Woodland Charter
Transforming trees, transforming people: A panel discussion chaired by Justin Albert (National Trust) with Matt Larsen-Daw, Rob Penn, Katie Eastaugh (The Cart Shed) and Toby Allen (Say It With Wood and National Coppice Federation)
Practical green wood craft demos:
Gudrun Leitz – have-a-go pole lathe turning
Mike Abbott – chair-making
Owen Thomas – turning bowls on a pole-lathe
Lewis Goldwater – carving spoons
Jeremy Atkinson – making clogs
Morgan brothers – tent peg makers
Say it with Wood – cleaving chestnut.
Sunday 15 October 2017
Ongoing practical green wood craft demos throughout the day.
Jackie Morris with Tamsin Abbott: Finding The Lost Words – Rewilding Language
Archie Miles: New Perspectives of Ancient Trees