Videos & Links

Please see below for some of the videos that we have featured in over the years. Here you can see how we make the famous “Thomas Smith Sussex Trug” and the “South Down Contemporary Trug”.

Also we have included some links to websites that may interest you.

The Makings – Thomas Smiths

A new film about our workshop in Magham Down, Herstmonceux.

South Down Contemporary Trugs

Making a Trug – a Woodland Craft

See our video from woodlands TV and watch us making the famous South Down Contempory Trug at the Weald Wood Fair in Sussex

How the South Down modern trug is made. The Cuckmere Trug Company also make the famous Royal Sussex Traditional Trug from sweet chestnut and cricket bat willow, as well as many other types of trug.

Inside the Thomas Smith’s Trugs Workshop | The Craft of Trug Making

Step inside the Thomas Smith’s Trugs workshop in Magham Down, East Sussex, and see the craftsmanship that goes into every trug.

This film captures Robin Tuppen, Lewis J. Fuller, and Max Parks at work, handcrafting a contemporary take on the traditional Sussex Trug – the South Down Contemporary Trug. Using time-honoured techniques, each trug is carefully shaped, steam-bent, and assembled by hand.

While we’ve introduced modern materials, the skill and dedication behind every piece remain the same, ensuring this 200-year-old craft continues to thrive. A huge thank you to Adam Cannell and Chenying Cannell for creating this wonderful film.

Basket Men of Sussex

British Pathé Films from 1929 and 1963 in our old workshops in the centre of Herstmonceux village.

“Down in Herstmonceux, Sussex, a little colony of trug-makers still make up the old fashioned ash and willow trug-baskets.” Ash was used in the old days for the handles and rims, which are now made from sweet chestnut.

Trugs (1963)

A story about the Smith family who make trugs, which are wooden boat shaped baskets with a handle round them.

Various shots of wood piled up, Ted Turner is seen sawing and splitting the chestnut for the frames and Johnny Boardman and Eddie Smith are seen shaving the willow for the boards.

Grace Newham fits willow boards to the frame. Tony Ransom shaves chestnut into shape and Johnny takes some strips of chestnut out of the steamer. Winnie Hobden finishes off a miniature trug. Raymond Smith paints flowers round the side and we see the finished products stacked up.

Below are some links that you may find interesting and useful

Heritage Crafts Association

The Worshipful Company of Basketmakers

Basketmakers’ Association

The Association of Pole Lathe Turners & Greenwood Workers

Wealden District Council Tourism

England’s Coast

History of Sussex Trugs (interview with Cuckmere Trug Company)

How to make a Sussex Trug