Bark Crafts & Charcoal Making Courses

[bushscout1]

Just a quick note about the above two courses which I have been on - having been booked on as birthday presents from my wife & kids.

Ran by Leicestershire County Council's Country Parks Service at Beacon Hill.

The courses covered the basics of each subject:

The bark crafts course covered how to strip birch bark (in large enough pieces to use for such projects - rather than into small pieces for firelighting) - from green wood, seasoned wood & rotting wood; made candle lanterns and discussed other projects - including starting to make basic containers; storage of bark for future use & rejuvenating dried bark. We also got the chance to use a draw knife on a 'shaving-horse' to carve the plug for use in the base of the project.

On the charcoal making course we made charcoal in 'small' kilns made from 45 gallon oil drums, and discussed the differences between this method & the use of larger kilns. At the end of the course we got to take home the charcoal we had made.

I can thoroughly recommend both the courses, they are also running a Green Woodworking course mainly focused on the use of pole-lathes, and a Dry Stone Walling course which I intend to attend.

All the courses are just £30 for the day - BARGAIN !!!

(No link other than a very satisfied attendee.)

 

[badgeringtim]

good news.
Nice to see some well apprciated courses at sensible pricies!

 

[Cobweb]

Sounds great, are they doing any more courses that you know of? I'd love to come along

 

[bushscout1]

From what I could gather, they started doing some courses last year (dry stone walling IIRC), the sessions I went on are the 'first tranche' whilst they assess the types of courses required and customer demand / interest.

Whilst the above two courses I attended were not full, we discussed the fact that they weren't very well advertised (only in the Leicestershire County Council - What's On Guide) which is published quarterly.

I'm not sure, but they may also be listed on their website:

www.leics.gov.uk

If I see any more advertised I'll post them on here (I didn't know about these as they were a present from my wife).

 

[Cobweb]

That would be fantastic, thank you very much, at that price I can actually afford to go on a course! The specialist ones for bushcrafters are sometimes more expensive than pro photographer courses!

 

[bushscout1]

Just a quick update...

I've now been on the other 2 courses which were equally inspiring and great value for money.

Something which may be of interest... the rangers who were running the last course stated that they will be doing 'have-a-go' sessions at the National Forest Wood Fair (also held at Beacon Hill, Nr. Loughborough on August Bank Holiday).

And they suggested that whilst there are no further courses being advertised at present (they normally just do these courses in the spring), they may well be advertising courses at the fair to be held in the autumn.

Just another reason (like you need any more) to attend the Wood Fair !!

It started 3 years ago (IIRC) and I've been to all 3 - they're grrrrreat