The Queen Elizabeth Country Park (QECP) is right on the South Downs below Petersfield and in the shadow of Butser Hill, the rain shadow that is. The view from Butser Hill is one of the classic views from the South Downs, north into the Western Weald, east along the Downs and south down to the coast and the Isle of Wight. I joined the Hampshire Coppice Craftsmen Group (HCCG) for the show over the weekend. Before I left I knew the weather on Saturday was likely to be terrible, so I was at least vaguely prepared for the wash out.
The constant rain was drained our spirits, the clouds obscuring the hills and sometimes the site as well whilst the wind made sure that little under the shelter remained dry. Ever the optimist I noticed a slight brightness in the view from the shelter, but unfortunately it was only relative and the weather rapidly worsened as the photo shows. My credibility as a weather forecaster took a big hit with Dave Lister and Toni Brannon who were mystified at my annoucement 'it's looking brighter in the west'.
I was proven to be right eventually, and luckily for us Sunday dawned a much brighter day, the view from the shelter was transformed and our spirits rose again as we dried out and the visitors came to the show.
There was a good line up from the Hampshire Group with a wide range of coppice products and demonstrations for the visitors to take in and to help raise awareness of the need to coppice woodland.
Les and Toni Brannon's wide range of coppice products included traditional chestnut gate hurdles, besom brooms, hay rakes and tomato stakes right through to kindling, plant labels and small turned garden items.
Next to my pitch were Matt and Tori demonstrating shingle making from cleft oak. I've wanted to learn about shingle making for some time so it was good for me, if not for them, that I could ask questions all day long. Their six week old baby is starting green wood working at a young age.
They run a timber framing and green wood business which is not far from the showground. Matt even found some time to work on a timber frame, apparently destined to become a composting toilet.
Dave Lister, hurdle and spar maker, showed us how to think laterally to find new uses for traditional products. One of his recent successes is a log shelter constructed from woven hazel hurdles. I can see it will be a big hit with the new owners of wood burning stove that have only just realised that buying logs from the filling station is quite expensive.
Another of Dave's products is the washing machine drum bbq burner. It works as a brazier and as a barbecue, the stainless steel drum is relatively light because of the mesh which also allows the heat to radiate around it. Something we really appreciated on Saturday evening as a hardy few of us stayed overnight on the showground and the gale set in.
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