Monty Don's Real Crafts

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,888
2,141
Mercia
It was okay. Not great, but better than that allotment show which was a desperate thing. Monty Don is still the fingernails on the blackboard of my life.
 

Stringmaker

Native
Sep 6, 2010
1,891
1
UK
It was okay. Not great, but better than that allotment show which was a desperate thing. Monty Don is still the fingernails on the blackboard of my life.

I haven't seen this programme but I have seen some of his stuff.

May I ask why he rattles your cage so much?

He seems to be a decent bloke who cares about the right things to me?
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,888
2,141
Mercia
I find him affected and pretentious - I really enjoyed listening to the blacksmith - a solid down to Earth guy - so refreshing - thats the sort of chap to introduce a programme on crafts. More Jack Hargreaves, less Julian Clary.
 
Little disappointed they where supposed to be amongst the best amateur blacksmiths in the country mostly barely above hobby the guy who won had only started 6mths before but seemed to have at home a fully kitted out Forge workshop

and they started by failing to make a simple Fire set

Im sure they all learned a lot and it was a great exp they can All use to help them as apposed to focusing on the guy who had his bench picked once

Does this mean he has to make more and has a contract etc that the others dont ????????????

would be nice to do over 12 months bringing on etc but that dosnt make good cheap TV for the masses
 

mountainm

Bushcrafter through and through
Jan 12, 2011
9,990
12
Selby
www.mikemountain.co.uk
Little disappointed they where supposed to be amongst the best amateur blacksmiths in the country mostly barely above hobby the guy who won had only started 6mths before but seemed to have at home a fully kitted out Forge workshop

and they started by failing to make a simple Fire set

Im sure they all learned a lot and it was a great exp they can All use to help them as apposed to focusing on the guy who had his bench picked once

Does this mean he has to make more and has a contract etc that the others dont ????????????

would be nice to do over 12 months bringing on etc but that dosnt make good cheap TV for the masses

That was basically my feeling too...
 

uncleboob

Full Member
Dec 28, 2012
915
53
Coventry and Warwickshire
Hmmmm....just watched the 'wood' episode....just don't get it. Three guys turn up, one guy gives up after a day and the other two struggle to join two bits of wood together...where are all the talented amateurs?


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Joonsy

Native
Jul 24, 2008
1,483
3
UK
Hmmmm....just watched the 'wood' episode....just don't get it. Three guys turn up, one guy gives up after a day and the other two struggle to join two bits of wood together...where are all the talented amateurs?

i echo the above comment, that five-minute-wonder, sorry young man, that gave up took away the chance from a 'genuine' talented amateur to have a go.
 
Aug 4, 2013
866
3
Berkshire
I find him affected and pretentious - I really enjoyed listening to the blacksmith - a solid down to Earth guy - so refreshing - thats the sort of chap to introduce a programme on crafts. More Jack Hargreaves, less Julian Clary.

Yea, I agree with you on Monty Don - I have to turn the TV off if he comes on - he's a phoney with his cords and jerkin - I wonder if he wore them when he was in the designer jewellery business?

Mind you Jack Hargreaves was a bit of a phoney too.

I met him once - the tale is here:

http://gardeningboots.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/ha-ha-said-the-clown/
 
Jan 18, 2005
298
0
52
Bucks
I just watched the blacksmithing one, it really strikes home how different a blade/tool smith is from a blacksmith. Most of what I do, I do with a hammer on the anvil and the material is much smaller and harder. A blacksmith (in this episode) uses lots of flat bars and jigs. Just the cost of the steel they use scares the crap out of me.
 

Joonsy

Native
Jul 24, 2008
1,483
3
UK
Yea, I agree with you on Monty Don - I have to turn the TV off if he comes on - he's a phoney with his cords and jerkin - I wonder if he wore them when he was in the designer jewellery business?

Mind you Jack Hargreaves was a bit of a phoney too.

I met him once - the tale is here:

http://gardeningboots.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/ha-ha-said-the-clown/

Yes I agree with you, pity that huge scarf monty don wore didn’t cover his whole face, he is pretentious and self-important, jack hargreaves was a romancer who preached myths as fact, he is typical of many country writers who twist the facts to appeal to the imagination because it sounds better than telling the truth, or perhaps such writers don’t know what the truth really is because of little hands on experience. In his book Old Country he repeats the oh so often told tale of poaching pheasants with a pole on a moonlit night, what a load of rubbish, they will not sit tight enough on a moonlit night for someone to get close enough with a pole and he makes no mention of the wind affecting the height at which they roost, he makes that usual mistake of the inexperienced that consider how easy it is to see a roosting bird against the moon but don’t consider how easy it is for the bird to see the person, and on such light nights when one pheasant takes flight it spooks all the other pheasants close by into taking flight (because it is light enough to see hence fly) with such a loud racket it would alert any keeper for miles, he says the pheasant ‘falls without a flutter’ and they can be taken ‘so quietly’, he has obviously never heard a pheasant beat its wings when pulled off its perch or heard the alarm calls of spooked pheasants, what a load of rubbish he has not got a clue and is just repeating myths told by others. I knew the author george bedson who wrote the book notorious poacher and (proud) poacher though he was he was a genuine countryman of great experience who studied things for himself and didn’t repeat old wives tales as facts, now dead but I have some drawings and letters he wrote, now he was a true countryman but people seem to prefer to believe the myth.
 

Whittler Kev

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 8, 2009
4,314
12
65
March, UK
bushcraftinfo.blogspot.com
Watched it and reckon maybe I should submit some woodwork or a bench to the designers to make a few hundred. I know I can do joints (including hidden rebated dovetails) as I had to make them to get my City & Guilds in Carpentry & Joinery, but I am nowhere near what I would call a craftsman.
I can't believe they said that if they couldn't agree they wouldn't accept either piece, then took both, even though one would blow over or bend in half with a pot of tea on it and the other looked like a 12 year old had made it. :confused:
 

uncleboob

Full Member
Dec 28, 2012
915
53
Coventry and Warwickshire
This program is to traditional craft and skill what X factor is to music...it is a shame though cause the previous series did seem to have integrity- really enjoyed it. Think it's stone masonry next, it'd be interesting to see how the skill level on this episode compares to the previous stone masonry master crafts episode.


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British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,888
2,141
Mercia
This program is to traditional craft and skill what X factor is to music...

Exactly!

I've just figured out whats bugging me too. I have learned nothing about metal work or furniture making by watching them - literally not a single thing. There is no emphasis on the craft. In the cabinet making show, although some lovely brass backed tenon saws were briefly shown, no mention was made of the name of the joint, no demonstration made of how it should be cut - nothing at all. So in conclusion, this is a game show / popularity contest. There is no point in watching it if you are interested in the craft in question - so I think on reflection, I wont waste my time on another episode.
 

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