Scottish Scything Festival 27 July 2019
- Thread starter Nomad64
- Start date
-
Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
Nice find 
If you've no objections I'll add the link to the other thread.
Are you going to the scything festival ? It's one of those skills that used to be so ubiquitous but so rarely seen now. My Grandpa used to cut his lawns with a scythe and it was a quicker neater job than the old push lawnmower.
M
If you've no objections I'll add the link to the other thread.
Are you going to the scything festival ? It's one of those skills that used to be so ubiquitous but so rarely seen now. My Grandpa used to cut his lawns with a scythe and it was a quicker neater job than the old push lawnmower.
M
Nice find
If you've no objections I'll add the link to the other thread.
Are you going to the scything festival ? It's one of those skills that used to be so ubiquitous but so rarely seen now. My Grandpa used to cut his lawns with a scythe and it was a quicker neater job than the old push lawnmower.
M
A bit far for me to travel - I hope to get to the meet in Somerset next year.
Scything is one of those rural skills which is making a comeback although the scythe of choice now is the “Austrian scythe”, which is much lighter and with a finer blade. Skill is more important than brute force although Aidan Turner’s muscular but laughably ineffective efforts on Poldark are credited with some of the increase in popularity.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-32117877
I did a scything course a while back with these guys who despite the title are not God botherers but interested in using traditional methods of maintaining old burial grounds as wildlife sanctuaries - as they have not been, grazed, ploughed or fertilised (other than with the obvious!), they often contain seed banks of species lost in the surrounding agricultural land.
https://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/
My skills with the traditional Anglo-American style scythe (a barn find
) are rustic to say the least but for clearing, nettles, thistles, bracken (I know bruising is better than cutting but a scythe is quicker) and long grass, it is no slower than a brush cutter and a lot easier on the ears. I have also made some hay using a scythe. 
Similar threads
