Traditional woodland crafts and green woodworking courses, craft kits and handcrafted gifts

You may also be interested in: Animal husbandry and small holding skills | Art: driftwood and beach combing | Bushcraft and forest school | Coppicing and woodland management | Garden design and maintenance | Gardening | Gardening: pruning and orchard management | Heritage crafts | Outdoors and rural skills | Timber framing | Traditional building skills and conservation | Wildlife and nature conservation | Willow weaving

Traditional woodland craft courses (we also include green woodworking and greenwood crafts in this section) are increasing in the UK. Traditional woodland craft can also be known as ‘woodmanship’ and means working with trees, forests and tools in a way that communities going back thousands of years would recognise. These wood-loving ancestors of ours may have been the first true conservationists, working their resources in a way that was renewable and sustainable, not only preserving trees, but enhancing the richness of the surrounding wildlife. Traditional craft and green wood workshops in this section will generally involve woodwork without the use of nails and screws - and with a focus on hand tools. Think rustic!

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In-person course

Make a shave horse at Sallerton Wood

Devon - Next course on 9th July 2022

Make a shave horse at Sallerton Wood

These two-day courses in shave horse making teach a wide range of green woodworking techniques whilst making your own traditional green wood shaving horse using timber sourced within the woodland. The topics covered include the properties of green wood, cleaving techniques and the use of traditional hand tools and equipment such as draw-knives and pole lathes. A shave horse is a fundamental piece of kit needed by all green woodworkers and it will be yours to keep at the end of the course, and the course fee is less than...

These two-day courses in shave horse making teach a wide range of green woodworking techniques whilst making your own traditional green wood shaving horse using timber sourced within the woodland....

In-person course

Make a spindle-back chair

South Lanarkshire - Next course on 29th August 2022

Make a spindle-back chair

This is a 5 day course, making a greenwood chair from an ash log, from start to finish. It is suitable for beginners, adults and teenagers, though some may find it physically taxing. The result though is a beautiful chair, elegant and comfortable, of which you will be proud. The spindle-back is the most straightforward design for first timers. Returning makers may choose to make a chair of another design.

This is a 5 day course, making a greenwood chair from an ash log, from start to finish. It is suitable for beginners, adults and teenagers, though some may find...

In-person course

Make your own shavehorse with Gedwood

Moray - Next course on 17th September 2022

Make your own shavehorse with Gedwood

Set in the stunning rolling hills of Speyside at the very heart of malt whisky country in the scottish highlands. If you’ve always wanted to work in greenwood but are not sure how to go about it, this is the quintessential device - all you need to produce anything from a chair to a gate! A shave horse is a combination of vice and workbench, used for green woodworking. This hands on, two day workshop will provide all the materials needed to construct your own shave horse. You will learn...

Set in the stunning rolling hills of Speyside at the very heart of malt whisky country in the scottish highlands. If you’ve always wanted to work in greenwood but are...

In-person course

Beginner’s bowl carving

Norfolk - Next course on 9th July 2022

Beginner’s bowl carving

Have you dabbled with greenwood spoon carving and are keen to take your skills to the next level? Then this might be the course for you! New for 2021, we are offering a limited number of residential weekend courses in greenwood bowl carving for up to three people at our workshop based in a sleepy village in the Norfolk-Suffolk border. We will teach you how to make a simple Kuksa bowl similar to those that are made by the Sámi nomads in Finland. We will take you from basic wood...

Have you dabbled with greenwood spoon carving and are keen to take your skills to the next level? Then this might be the course for you! New for 2021, we...

NEW KIT! 3 x Willow Star WITH VIDEO TUTORIAL

NEW KIT! 3 x Willow Star WITH VIDEO TUTORIAL

~ Includes video tutorial ~ This willow star kit is perfect for anyone wanting to dip their toe into willow weaving! This willow stars kit is perfect for anyone wanting to dip their toe into willow weaving. The willow used is just 3ft long, so not quite as intimidating to start weaving with. It's great fun and makes fantastic willow stars that can be displayed indoors or out. Some twinkling fairy lights would really add a special touch too.

~ Includes video tutorial ~ This willow star kit is perfect for anyone wanting to dip their toe into willow weaving! This willow stars kit is perfect for anyone wanting...

In-person course

Green wood chair making 5-day course in Sussex woodland

East Sussex - Next course on 26th September 2022

Green wood chair making 5-day course in Sussex woodland

Spend 5 days in a beautiful Sussex woodland, using locally grown hardwood to make yourself a beautiful finished product that you can cherish for life. Starting with a simple log, you split, drawknife and then turn the chair parts on the pole-lathe , an amazing, primitive ,foot powered wood turning lathe. During the five days you will steam bend wood, use an adze, learn to turn, experience the magic of a cabinet scraper and learn about dozens of unusual, traditional tools and techniques .By day five you will be assembling,...

Spend 5 days in a beautiful Sussex woodland, using locally grown hardwood to make yourself a beautiful finished product that you can cherish for life. Starting with a simple log,...

In-person course

Introduction to green wood furniture making - two days

Devon - Next course on 21st July 2022

Introduction to green wood furniture making - two days

A two day course learning the skills and techniques of green woodworking, with an emphasis on contemporary design and detailing. Maximum of 6 students. You will make either a low stool or a side table using a variety of edge tools. Starting with a fresh cut log you will learn how to cleave the wood with a froe and wedges, then shape it on the shaving horse with drawknife and spokeshave. Joints used will be through-wedged-tenons. Use of contrasting timbers, and sculpted free-form table tops or seats are all available...

A two day course learning the skills and techniques of green woodworking, with an emphasis on contemporary design and detailing. Maximum of 6 students. You will make either a low...

In-person course

Alien spoon carving

Edinburgh - Next course on 9th July 2022

Alien spoon carving

My workshops are usually small groups of up to five, but often fewer so that you get the best training from a full days spoon carving and I can give everyone my attention and tips to improve techniques throughout the day. I have been training people to carve spoons for over six years and teach the safest and most efficient ways of using the tools. Alien spoons? Well, it is a memorable name and some of the knife grasps may feel a bit alien to start with. You will soon...

My workshops are usually small groups of up to five, but often fewer so that you get the best training from a full days spoon carving and I can give...

In-person course

Green wood chair making - 6 day woodworking course in Devon

Devon - Next course on 10th October 2022

Green wood chair making - 6 day woodworking course in Devon

Starting with an unseasoned log you will learn how to create a beautiful and unique chair which will last for generations. This is one of the most satisfying green wood projects and the course is suitable for complete beginners and experienced woodworkers alike. The "post and rung" construction uses the natural properties of green wood to produce incredibly strong, glue-free joints. During the course you will learn to split wood accurately, and shape it using draw knife and spoke shaves. Using the unique qualities of unseasoned wood and following a...

Starting with an unseasoned log you will learn how to create a beautiful and unique chair which will last for generations. This is one of the most satisfying green wood...

In-person course

Introduction to spooncarving at Hill End

Oxfordshire - Next course on 8th October 2022

Introduction to spooncarving at Hill End

Carving a wooden spoon from a simple piece of freshly cut tree branch is a deeply satisfying experience. Green wood is very yielding and all of your senses are stimulated, from the smell of fresh wood shavings being carved away to the texture and feel of the bowl and handle as they emerge from the spoon blank. Using just three tools, an axe, a knife and a hook knife, we will spend the day carving our own spoons. We’ll start by cleaving a length of branch wood in two, deciding...

Carving a wooden spoon from a simple piece of freshly cut tree branch is a deeply satisfying experience. Green wood is very yielding and all of your senses are stimulated,...

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