News & Things

This is also the page where I put news and my ramblings.

As you can see we have a new look website, thanks entirely to Lynne who is now looking after the site and a very good job she is making of it. Although I am allowed to put in bits like this where I don't do any harm.

Another year just starting, yet again I am delighted with the courses being fully booked up for February/March and I have put on an extra one in July due to demand (just 1 space left if you would like it), the autumn ones have also started to get bookings. I have been altering the layout of the workshop to give a bit more space when the courses are in progress and changing the lighting over the benches to improve things. If you have been to the course pages before you will notice that I have given the courses new names. This is to save some confusion about which course to start with. It doesn't really matter which course you do first as they are centred around different subjects, course 1 Tools and course 2 Wood although there is some overlap, but if you don't do course 1 there will be a lot of knowledge you will miss out on and the same applies to course 2. So, unless you are very confident in tool usage and handling, start with course 1.

We have had some interesting Commissions over the winter and more to come as the year progresses. One of the most unusual has been a headboard made to look like flames. using different types of wood to simulate the flames. To give you an idea of scale, the bottom rail is 72" long (king size bed) and the top of the centre flame is 30" high. This has worked out very nicely an has made an eye catching feature.

The Show season will soon be on us again and we are hoping to start a little earlier this year with a show in May and a new marquee if all goes according to plan. The dates are on the events page and we will be happy to see you if you can come along to any of them.

Richard February 07

Here we are in mid May and are we having fun!! Some nice people decided to brake into the workshop on bank holiday weekend looking for tools etc. However the boys in blue where on the ball and caught them and surprise surprise we got all the tools back, it just shows you that it is worth putting your postcode on to your power tools as the ones that where marked where left alone, properly because I had not only written on them with indelible ink but I had also used a centre pop to punch the postcode into the most inaccessible places I could fined. So of course we are now doing what we should have already done and improver the alarm system and fitted steel internal doors to improve the workshop security. 

I am in the middle of a course fortnight, another extra 2 weeks and then it will be show time, the new marquee has arrived and we had an interesting few hours putting it up to see how it all went together and Sue and I where very pleased with it and we are looking forward to using it at the Northumberland show in 2 weeks time, I will take photos and put them here but if you can get along to any of the shows this year we will look forward to seeing you.

Bookings for the autumn courses are starting to come in now so if you are thinking about it don't leave it to long or I am afraid you will be disappointed as I will not be able to put more course on in the autumn as I have a rather nice commission to make starting in August that will take all of the spare time up until Christmas.

Richard May 07

    It has come to the end of August and what a strange show season it has been, we have never had so many shows cancelled before they could start or cancelled half way through, The new marquee has been a great success giving us some much needed extra space and much needed boost to our confidence in its weather resisting properties, the rain we had in Northern Ireland gave it a real test and not a drop came through although hundreds of gallons went underneath it making the ground sheet seem like a water bed at times, and the Galloway event had the worst mud we have ever experienced but the organisers kept their nerve and the show went on and the general public come out despite the weather and enjoyed themselves.

Having had Keswick show cancelled I am having a couple of days off to recharge the batteries, walking Ash and catching up with the housework etc, before we start on the commissions that I have lined up for the autumn and the courses start in a couple of weeks time so lots of things to look forward to.

We have some new help around the workshop now as Mark who came on two of the courses last year has now become self-employment and is helping out 2 days a week with some of the commissions.

All the course 1 places filled up very quickly this year, so I have put on an extra one in November in place of a course 2 to give a few more of you a chance to come and learn some new skills.

Richard (end of August)