Ive long had an interest in basketry but like so many other things in life Id never quite got round to doing much about it until recently when I went on Wilderness Survival Skills Weavin and Whittlin course.
Id attended a few courses with Wilderness Survival Skills before and been very impressed with not only the quality of the teaching but also the general manner of the instructors which meant that Id always had an instructive and enjoyable experience. If Im going to pay out good money I want to learn a lot but equally importantly I want to enjoy myself doing so and Id always found Joes courses to fulfil both those requirements.
There was a problem however in learning basketry with WSS; the only suitable course on offer also included an introduction to green woodworking and the safe use of cutting tools. Id already got sufficient experience in those areas and didnt want to pay for a revision session. I emailed Joe and explained my predicament and he assured me that if I attended the course Id get two days basketry instruction.
After many hours on the train I was very glad to get to the woods at around 8pm on Friday. Word was clearly getting round about the quality of instruction on offer since there were nine other students on the course, of whom a good few were repeat offenders with WSS. From the conversations around the fire in the evenings it was clear they were a pretty disparate bunch with only a few who were into bushcraft which for me at least made things more interesting. The first evening was relaxed with the usual safety brief, introductions, help with setting up shelters for those who wanted it and a brief overview of the weekends activities. Dinner was provided and consisted of sausages, mash, veg and gravy
As well as the students there was also the instructors Joe, Glenn and Anthony, Zoe and Matt the assistants (who did a great job all weekend of making sure we were all fed and watered and supplied with hot drinks amongst their other duties), and lastly Frances the basketry instructor, her partner and their baby. Although there were quite a few of us the size of the woods and the amount of low cover meant that in daylight it never felt overcrowded.
On Saturday reveille was at 7.30 am as there was a lot to fit into the two days and at 8.30 after breakfast the other students went to the teaching area to begin the Whittlin element of the course. Frances was still tending to her baby and came over to see me at 9. Joe had certainly met his promise for this day at least; I was to get one to one tuition in basket making and from looking at the beautiful examples of her work Frances brought along it was clear Id be getting it from someone who really knew their craft.
Over the course of the day Frances steered me through making a basket. Id been shown how to make a fish trap previously and it had taken me a long time to get the process into my head. Making a basket was like that only much worse and the stumbling block was me for some reason it just wouldnt click in my head. Fortunately Frances was an extremely patient teacher (she certainly needed to be). She had told me early in the day that she was a perfectionist and so she was, but in the best possible way. Her own work was beautiful to look at and she was at pains to assist me in making the best possible basket I could make. Occasionally she would have to go and attend to her baby for a few minutes but Joe was always on hand then if I needed any advice.
Frances was a great teacher; clearly very skilled and with a real passion for her craft. She was patient and unlike some educators never made me feel as if I was wasting her time and she did not keep taking over what I was doing. In the end anything I made would have been by my hands alone.
As I said before I was admittedly being rather dim that day and so had to be told the same things over and over again. Despite this Frances resisted the temptation to beat me over the head with the nearest available stick and remarkably gave no sign of wanting to do so. She also supplied me with some nice cakes shed made which despite what you might read on the WSS website did not taste of ginger. They were especially welcome as the packets of biscuits had surely coincidentally all gone over to the main group where the instructors were.
Although Frances had brought along sufficient willow for the two days we were both keen to try and use any other natural materials we could gather in the woods around us so Frances, Sylvan, the baby, Zoe and myself later went for a walk to see what we could find. The weather was glorious and the woods were beautiful and we were able to gather a range of materials to try out.
Slowly the basket grew until, to my surprise, I had a creditable looking basket. It wasnt the prettiest basket in the world but it wasnt the ugliest either. More importantly it worked as a basket and I was able to fill it with rocks and carry it so I knew it would survive the rigours of any task I was likely to use it for.
There was still some time left so after a break, during which I watched Anthony carve up a deer for dinner with stone tools he had made earlier that day, Frances asked if I wanted to learn anything else but my brain was full so she suggested that I make the base of a second basket to be completed tomorrow. This I did and I was surprised by how much I had remembered; Francess patience in endlessly repeating things to me had driven the knowledge into my head. Admittedly I made a few minor errors but the base turned out functional and strong.
The evening meal was venison curry and it was delicious. There wasnt quite the range of food as there had been on other WSS courses but on those occasions the students had prepared the food as part of the course. On this course we were all too busy but even so the food was excellent and there was plenty of it. Zoe and Matt definitely did the students proud.
Sunday was an early start again and the other students learnt how to make baskets with Frances. I was invited to join in but was keen to complete the second basket I had made the base for the day before. I quickly glanced at one of the many books Frances had brought with her and after asking Frances a few questions once she had got the other students started I went to work on my second ever basket. Progress was slow but it was my own progress. Help and advice were on hand from Frances or Joe but as much as possible I wanted to make my own basket. It took me quite a while and it was fairly ugly but again it was a fully functional basket.
More importantly I had obviously absorbed and retained some knowledge and had certainly come on in leaps and bounds in self-confidence. I had made mistakes along the way but had often spotted them and had been able to go back and correct them. I could see where a better choice of materials would have given a better end result and had an idea of why the better choice would have been the better choice. I could also see ways that I would do things differently next time. I dont think Ill be putting any of my creations up for sale in craft shops any time soon but Id gone from almost no experience to being able on my own to make a functional if ugly basket in one weekend.
The other students progressed well with their baskets and all had finished by the end of the day at 5pm. Some had been quick enough to be able to devote a bit of time to completing projects from the Saturday.
As you can see from the above I had only minimal contact with the whittlers. However I can tell you that they first learnt how to make an Ash maul / mallet. then a butter knife or spatula. After that they were taken through carving a spoon with knife and saw or small carving axe. They then carved a spoon and sealed it with walnut or grapeseed oil. Sharpening was also covered and there may have been some other stuff too but as I said I was busy with basketry. The students therefore went home with maul, spatula, spoon and possibly blisters.
Negatives from the weekend? Only the appalling train ride home. Overcrowding, delays, having to stand for hours in the boiling hot space between the main seating areas with next to no ventilation ... oh what fun. And as a testament to how much I enjoyed the course I can honestly say I still enjoyed the weekend despite the terrible journey afterwards.
Id attended a few courses with Wilderness Survival Skills before and been very impressed with not only the quality of the teaching but also the general manner of the instructors which meant that Id always had an instructive and enjoyable experience. If Im going to pay out good money I want to learn a lot but equally importantly I want to enjoy myself doing so and Id always found Joes courses to fulfil both those requirements.
There was a problem however in learning basketry with WSS; the only suitable course on offer also included an introduction to green woodworking and the safe use of cutting tools. Id already got sufficient experience in those areas and didnt want to pay for a revision session. I emailed Joe and explained my predicament and he assured me that if I attended the course Id get two days basketry instruction.
After many hours on the train I was very glad to get to the woods at around 8pm on Friday. Word was clearly getting round about the quality of instruction on offer since there were nine other students on the course, of whom a good few were repeat offenders with WSS. From the conversations around the fire in the evenings it was clear they were a pretty disparate bunch with only a few who were into bushcraft which for me at least made things more interesting. The first evening was relaxed with the usual safety brief, introductions, help with setting up shelters for those who wanted it and a brief overview of the weekends activities. Dinner was provided and consisted of sausages, mash, veg and gravy
As well as the students there was also the instructors Joe, Glenn and Anthony, Zoe and Matt the assistants (who did a great job all weekend of making sure we were all fed and watered and supplied with hot drinks amongst their other duties), and lastly Frances the basketry instructor, her partner and their baby. Although there were quite a few of us the size of the woods and the amount of low cover meant that in daylight it never felt overcrowded.
On Saturday reveille was at 7.30 am as there was a lot to fit into the two days and at 8.30 after breakfast the other students went to the teaching area to begin the Whittlin element of the course. Frances was still tending to her baby and came over to see me at 9. Joe had certainly met his promise for this day at least; I was to get one to one tuition in basket making and from looking at the beautiful examples of her work Frances brought along it was clear Id be getting it from someone who really knew their craft.
Over the course of the day Frances steered me through making a basket. Id been shown how to make a fish trap previously and it had taken me a long time to get the process into my head. Making a basket was like that only much worse and the stumbling block was me for some reason it just wouldnt click in my head. Fortunately Frances was an extremely patient teacher (she certainly needed to be). She had told me early in the day that she was a perfectionist and so she was, but in the best possible way. Her own work was beautiful to look at and she was at pains to assist me in making the best possible basket I could make. Occasionally she would have to go and attend to her baby for a few minutes but Joe was always on hand then if I needed any advice.
Frances was a great teacher; clearly very skilled and with a real passion for her craft. She was patient and unlike some educators never made me feel as if I was wasting her time and she did not keep taking over what I was doing. In the end anything I made would have been by my hands alone.
As I said before I was admittedly being rather dim that day and so had to be told the same things over and over again. Despite this Frances resisted the temptation to beat me over the head with the nearest available stick and remarkably gave no sign of wanting to do so. She also supplied me with some nice cakes shed made which despite what you might read on the WSS website did not taste of ginger. They were especially welcome as the packets of biscuits had surely coincidentally all gone over to the main group where the instructors were.
Although Frances had brought along sufficient willow for the two days we were both keen to try and use any other natural materials we could gather in the woods around us so Frances, Sylvan, the baby, Zoe and myself later went for a walk to see what we could find. The weather was glorious and the woods were beautiful and we were able to gather a range of materials to try out.
Slowly the basket grew until, to my surprise, I had a creditable looking basket. It wasnt the prettiest basket in the world but it wasnt the ugliest either. More importantly it worked as a basket and I was able to fill it with rocks and carry it so I knew it would survive the rigours of any task I was likely to use it for.
There was still some time left so after a break, during which I watched Anthony carve up a deer for dinner with stone tools he had made earlier that day, Frances asked if I wanted to learn anything else but my brain was full so she suggested that I make the base of a second basket to be completed tomorrow. This I did and I was surprised by how much I had remembered; Francess patience in endlessly repeating things to me had driven the knowledge into my head. Admittedly I made a few minor errors but the base turned out functional and strong.
The evening meal was venison curry and it was delicious. There wasnt quite the range of food as there had been on other WSS courses but on those occasions the students had prepared the food as part of the course. On this course we were all too busy but even so the food was excellent and there was plenty of it. Zoe and Matt definitely did the students proud.
Sunday was an early start again and the other students learnt how to make baskets with Frances. I was invited to join in but was keen to complete the second basket I had made the base for the day before. I quickly glanced at one of the many books Frances had brought with her and after asking Frances a few questions once she had got the other students started I went to work on my second ever basket. Progress was slow but it was my own progress. Help and advice were on hand from Frances or Joe but as much as possible I wanted to make my own basket. It took me quite a while and it was fairly ugly but again it was a fully functional basket.
More importantly I had obviously absorbed and retained some knowledge and had certainly come on in leaps and bounds in self-confidence. I had made mistakes along the way but had often spotted them and had been able to go back and correct them. I could see where a better choice of materials would have given a better end result and had an idea of why the better choice would have been the better choice. I could also see ways that I would do things differently next time. I dont think Ill be putting any of my creations up for sale in craft shops any time soon but Id gone from almost no experience to being able on my own to make a functional if ugly basket in one weekend.
The other students progressed well with their baskets and all had finished by the end of the day at 5pm. Some had been quick enough to be able to devote a bit of time to completing projects from the Saturday.
As you can see from the above I had only minimal contact with the whittlers. However I can tell you that they first learnt how to make an Ash maul / mallet. then a butter knife or spatula. After that they were taken through carving a spoon with knife and saw or small carving axe. They then carved a spoon and sealed it with walnut or grapeseed oil. Sharpening was also covered and there may have been some other stuff too but as I said I was busy with basketry. The students therefore went home with maul, spatula, spoon and possibly blisters.
Negatives from the weekend? Only the appalling train ride home. Overcrowding, delays, having to stand for hours in the boiling hot space between the main seating areas with next to no ventilation ... oh what fun. And as a testament to how much I enjoyed the course I can honestly say I still enjoyed the weekend despite the terrible journey afterwards.
