The Pilot

Step 1 is to test whether there’s enough interest in green woodworking that it’s not just me and the maker(s) playing billy-no-mates!

My first guest maker is a local maker from Wigan, who I met at a Bodgers meetup in Lancaster a couple years ago (I'll share more about him and his work soon). His personal passion is the ‘shrinkpot’, which are incredibly easy and quick to make, with huge creative potential in how you decorate them. They’re basically hollowed branches, freshly cut so they still hold a lot of water content, which makes them much easier to carve. Once you’ve made your tube, you add a dry base (it could be an old seasoned piece of wood, or a stone, or piece of glass… anything). As the greenwood branch dries out, it tightens around the dry base, locking it into place. You can add lids, paint them, carve them, shape them… let your imagination run free!

I want the workshops to be affordable with some subsidised places (so everyone can have a go!), while also making sure to pay the makers well for their time and experience. And I want to host free whittling groups, too. Sadly we live under Capitalism (for now), and everything has costs associated with it, so that means applying for funding! Fortunately I know a bit about all that (having once been a funder), so once we’ve trialled the idea I’ll be throwing in a whole bunch of applications together so we can lock this badass idea down.

From there, we’ll schedule a whole bunch more courses, the monthly whittling group, and some trips out to managed woodlands so people from the city can have a go at coppicing.

Bringing heritage craft innovation into the metropolis is an exciting opportunity for partnerships, shared lifelong learning, nature connection, and sensory heaven, all in one!

I’m IN!

If this resonates with you and you’d like to be kept in the loop, please join our <email list>. If you’re a maker of heritage crafts (of any variety) and you’d like to be one of our guest workshop leaders, please drop me a line: connect-AT-urbanbodgers.net