In the run up to the New Year it's traditional to look back at the year. Looking through some photos I noticed that I failed to post on the Weald woodfair in October, largely because of the number of other shows right at the end of the season. So, for my friends in the Sussex and Surrey Coppice Group here are some photos from the event.
The Weald Woodfair is the Southeast's largest annual woody event and takes place at the Bentley wildfowl trust near Lewes. The coppice group has an area right out at the back of the woods, which I think is thoroughly fitting. Fittin in with other shows can be difficult in this busy period but I try to support the coppice group and the show.
Our pitches are arranged through the area to provide visitors with plenty of opportunities to stop and talk. Here the erstwhile chair of the group, John Sinclair, is hard at work turning out tent pegs, a rare photo indeed.
Equally rare, according to some, is this photo of me working on my stand. The show was very busy this year and I found many interested visitors, and a lot of old friends who popped by as well. Mainly due to the heavy schedule of other shows I did not choose my products very well and so my sales were fairly poor. It can be a problem with a big show to choose your products to match the event and to differentiate yourself from many other similar stands. But this show is at least as much about the networking as it is about the sales, at least for me.
In for a penny, in for a pound, here is another one , this time demonstrating bowl turning on my very lightweight demonstration lathe.
Andew King put on his customary fine demonstration of hurdle making
An entirely normal reaction to my attempts to take photographs here from Alan Sage and Jo Walters. Not hard to write a caption for this one. I do have some more photos of Alan basketmaking with a little more enthusiasm and these will feature shortly on another post, together with some photos of Alan Walters and his pimps.
We also had some 'drop in' demonstrations, and I was particularly pleased to see this excellent demo of spoon and ladle carving with very simple tools.
Mick Stanton our group blacksmith and edge tool maker was busy going at it hammer and tongs, though only once breakfast was served.....
and yes that is a bread roll toasting on the forge.
Mick's impressive array of edge tools seemed popular with the public, and as usual the massive selection of froes melted away - it continues to be a mystery to me how and why so many froes are sold? But if you are going to buy one, or any other greenwood tools you should have a look at Mick's. Catch him at a show or you can find him on the web here fraught wrought
Just down the path from the coppice group Richard Ede had an excellent display of furniture and turned work.
On the friday evening we have a group meal in the woods and this year it was certainly enlivened by a visit from a fire-eater
and during the day from the green man.
Though Frankie Woodgate's heavy horses demonstrating horse logging on the pitch next to us didn't seem overly impressed.
It's hard to capture the full insanity of the band 'Tongue and Groove' who were back by popular demand to play in the beertent on the Saturday Night and marking a fitting end to a hard but successful show season in 2009l at least for me. I wish the coppice group and everyone else an even more successful season in 2010.
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