Still seeking that elusive apprentice! Young person who is prepared to work hard over the three year apprenticeship period. Includes travel around U.K. and mainland Europe demonstrating our craft and educating people as to the importance of heritage crafts. Working mostly in our Magham Down workshop in the heart of the Sussex countryside, within a…
When sorting through my in tray I came across an article written in The Independent newspaper by Richard Hood. Richard had been in touch with me in July about an upcoming article he was doing for the newspaper and I sent him some photos of our Royal Sussex Garden Trug. The Sussex Trug was included…
A message to those garden centres whose supplier has recently ceased to trade – “We are still here”! Our South Down Contemporary Trugs (previously known as Modern Trugs) are the originals of those that were offered by your old supplier. South Down Trugs are available in natural finish or with a range of colours to…
My Craftsman, Mike Church represented us at the Weald & Downland Open Museum’s Autumn Show. Now, Mike is a very talented young man and, apart from making Trugs, he also makes wooded spatulas and butter knives, hand carved wooden spoons, gypsy flowers and he has recently started a new adventure in making split wood baskets.…
At the Wisley WoodFest I met a lovely lady from Japan. she has lived in England for many years and I first met her at a show near Cambridge in 1986 when she bought two of our South Down plywood Trugs, one she sent to her mother in Japan and the other she kept for…
Last weekend Caleb and I exhibited at the RHS Wisley Autumn WoodFest and had a very pleasant weekend in Wisley Gardens. Wisley is, of course, very famous, so we fitted in quite well :o) Although we had a few light showers the weekend was mostly dry but we really did appreciate the heater we had…
At the weekend, whilst attending the RHS Wisley Autumn WoodFest I met two very personable young men who are currently full time students at Merrist Wood College. Ollie & Josh were demonstrating their skills at pole lathe turning and had on sale the fruits of their hard work including turned items, spoons and gypsy flowers.…
Mike and Caleb under the handy tree doing their stuff to entertain our German fans! For a while there I had deja vue! When Andy Greenwood and I did the show a little boy of about 7 years old sat and watched Andy shaving the chestnut for almost an hour. This year there was another…
Here’s Hedwig doing her stuff under Caleb’s watchful eye! Hedwig’s dad was an engineer and he insisted, when she was a young girl, that she knew how to use many different tools. When she told him “But Papa I am a girl, he replied “No you aren`t – you are my daughter”!
We returned to Gartenfest in Schloss Wolfsgarten after an absence of several years and it was as lovely a show as it was when we last attended. Quite a few people came to speak with us and pointed out our location in the show ground from our last attendance and said they had bought a…
