Its with deep sadness that I am writing about the passing of my friend Brian Alcock the last full time self employed grinder in Sheffield. I had so much admiration for this man and treasured every moment I spent in his company. In many ways he was very simple, he worked unbelievably hard still starting work at 6am and doing…
Its been a whils since I’ve updated the blog and I have exciting news for spooncarvers. The Harewood Biennial is one of the most important craft shows in the UK. This year the focus is “Radical Acts” and in an increasingly digitised, comercialised world the simple act of carving a wooden spoon becomes one of the more radical things we…
I’ve been away from the blog for a while and one of the reasons is that I’ve been posting regular daily updates about my craftwork on Instagram instead. The blog is a great place though to share thoughts and I hope to do more of that starting by sharing what I have learned whilst growing an instagram following of over…
This week I was devastated to learn that Clayton’s tannery one of a handful of traditional tanneries left in the country was to close after 178 years making some of the highest quality leather in the world. They have also been my leather supplier for the last 25 years. I feel very much for the people, the skills and the…
For the last five years we have been making tools from home. The garage is stacked to the ceiling with stock. The woodshed is full of axes being oiled up and the front room has been turned into a leather workshop. People want more tools but we just don’t have the space or capacity to do it from here. There…
Here is a book full of surprises. It could have been a book that just had a spoon course in a book, the spooncarving community would have bought it. It could have been a book of inspirational spoon pictures I’d have bought that, it could have been a lovely lifestyle book full of out of focus pictures of earthy toned…
I wrote about Michael’s work last year so today about a year on I visited again and took some more photos of him at work making lovely pocket knives at his workshop at Portland Works. He now has a great website up where you can go and buy his knives. Check them out here This is his cutlers stool. As a…
I am often asked about apprenticeships in craft and want to share some thoughts and experiences. To many the word apprenticeship conjures a picture of a young person working for several years alongside someone with a skill, slowly learning the trade themselves. Some of the most amazing people I have met are folk that went through traditional engineering apprenticeship, they just…
Here’s a short film of Brian Alcock the last self employed grinder working in Sheffield. It’s a trade that dates back many centuries. The city is literally paved with worn out grindstones in places. Once every stream running through the area was dammed to power thousands of waterwheels. Brian grinds all of our axes along with work for many other…
A few years ago I wondered if we would saturate the spoon carving market, now I realise we are only just starting. There are thousands of potters around the country and still only a few dozen serious spoon carvers. I think this gorgeous film sums up what it is about better than any I have seen. Wonderful.
