2009 Autumn Gathering at Taliesin

From October 9th to 11th, folk gathered at Taliesin to carve stones, make stools, crush apples, build shelters, learn woodcraft and make lanterns. The loo with a view also gained a new wattle privacy screen to replace the makeshift canvas, and the new pools were refined with a bit of dam building.... Clicking on any picture below
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The stonecarving course was led by Will Davies and we all learned a new background soundtrack - "Chip, Chip, Chip,...." Course participants were a study in concentration and some beautiful work resulted.












Andy Hurst soon had his students cleaving, chopping, shaving and turning ash legs for their three-legged stools and, for a change the ash was genuine Taliesin-grown instead of resorting to the more usual exercise of the wood-poacher's art.







The bushcraft and trailblazing course was, as usual, tremendous fun for the kids and some more mature folk, and the shelters built in Potterland wood are a joy to behold and rather tempting to one who enjoys sleeping rough.

I advise those who would see (or use) them to remember that thinning operations begin soon, and are likely to damage them.

Apples were chipped and pressed for deliciously fresh juice (no time to ferment!). Kids walked the plank to paddle the raft in the old pond; Lanterns were made and hung to illuminate the evenings, and the food and company were, as always, of the highest quality. A virtual pizza factory operated on Saturday night, and, after several years of experimentation, we've finally learned how to use the clay oven! Trevor turned up for the BBQ and was joined by several pennywhistles, guitars and such, and pretty soon there was dancing by lamplight. Apologies for video quality ;-)


Simon has posted a whole lot more pictures

We operate workshops and courses twice yearly at Taliesin Community Woodland Centre. For more information click here. or for general information about Southwest Community Woodlands Trust, click here
Do pay Taliesin a visit anytime and enjoy the space.
(click for map)

Coppice Working Activities

Photos by Simon Brooke, 2001/2

Starting in 2000, we began restoration of coppice working in part of the ancient coppice area on Potterland Hill.  Over three years we cut three successive coupes and protected them with dead and laid hedge materials, and they were doing pretty well.  Sadly, in 2004, careless thinning contractors destroyed our protective efforts and reduced our enthusiasm.

Mike Gardner came and led courses for our annual October gatherings covering coppice and related woodland management, as well as the various uses for the harvested material. Because the hazel stools had been neglected, the material recovered was not of the highest quality, but we still managed to make a number of hurdles, some continuous-weave fencing, chairs, and other articles over the three years.   Clicking on any of the pictures will take you to other pictures. Lizzie made a ball frame of hazel, and covered it with willow, and planted it in the upper area of Taliesin as a living sculpture.

Ali Jeffrey carved a big beech log which produced brilliant foxfire glow in the middle of one of the most varied nights in memory - a ceilidh under canvas with thunder and lightening, hail, and beautiful clear periods!  During the clear periods, excursions were mounted to see the wonderland of glow-in-the-dark chippings and Ali's log itself glowing in a strange graphic fashion.

In November of 2001, the Community Woodlands Association held their annual gathering in Dalbeattie, and a number of the participants paid a visit to our coppice project.  A number of Reforesting Scotland regulars can be seen in the photos, including Peter Quelch, who was just retiring as the Forestry Commission's Native Woodlands Officer. He and Godfrey and I had a very rewarding walk through Potterland Wood, and he confirmed that it has most of the features to be expected in (overplanted) ancient semi-natural woodland.  He was particularly struck by the bit just below the stone bridge, but that bit isn't part of the FE-owned wood.  Peter is brilliant with flutes and recorders, and the gathering also included several other musical folk, notably Henry Fosbrooke, so there were plenty of musical campfire sessions.

I've recently been checking out the felled areas, and reckon that the first coupe has some good re-growth and is ready for felling again. With any luck, we'll get into the wood sometime after leaf-fall this winter, and maybe also start on restoration in another area with big neglected stools. The material will then be useful for a Spring course in hurdle-making and other uses.

We operate workshops and courses twice yearly at Taliesin Community Woodland Centre. For more information click here. or for general information about Southwest Community Woodlands Trust, click here
Do pay Taliesin a visit anytime and enjoy the space.
(click for map)