practice, passion, dedication.

Last year this video did the rounds on the internet, you may have seen it before, if you haven’t then you are in for a treat.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXO-jKksQkM] I absolutely loved it at the time and now I love it all the more and this is why. I just found the facebook page for Marquese Scott  and there are lots of similar vids,…

Read more

two great craftsmanship films

Metalworking today but that is not really relevant, both films are really about what it means to be a maker of things. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/63070434 w=500&h=281] The Metalsmith from Dan McComb on Vimeo. The first film was shared with me by Ford Hallam who I first discovered a couple of years ago through seeing this next video online, his workmanship is outstanding.…

Read more

Chairmaking, Gimson, Philip Clissett, Lawrence Neal, tradition and revival.

Today in the New York Times there is a good article on Philip Clissett Herefordshire chairmaker it gives some of the history but there is more to add so here goes….Philip Clissett was one of very many country chairmakers. The windsor chairmaking tradition around the chilterns is widely known but there were very many more chairmaking centres and small local…

Read more

The Whelkman of Whitstable Harbour

Derrick West has the sea running through his veins; at 84 he is Britain’s oldest working fisherman. “I have no plans for retirement. I’m not interested in sitting around watching TV; that’s when you start to go downhill.” A third generation whelkman, Derrick has fished oysters, cockles and whelks along the Kentish coast for over 67 years. Today his family…

Read more

big wooden ball film

Well this one is right at the other end of the spectrum from my foot powered turning but I like it anyway. There is something special about really large pieces of wood, I am a fan of Brancusi and Hepworth, these may not be in the same league art wise but they have a presence and are fun and I…

Read more

seeds of freedom

Most of my blog posts are about traditional woodworking and traditional crafts but I am also passionately interested in traditional agriculture globally and locally. Perhaps surprisingly  only 30% of the worlds food is produced by the industrialised farming methods we are so familiar with in the developed West, this system is designed to work with large acreages of land under monoculture,…

Read more