Spoon carving workshop

Discovering there was a spoon carving workshop happening not far from where we live was exciting, discovering we were free was unexpected, and realising it coincided with one of best friends visiting was perfection! Rufus and Jared ended up staying at home due to illness (which was turned out to be a good thing) but that didn’t stop the rest of us having a lovely time together.

It took place at Fairburn Ings – a place where trees, stumps and logs are plentiful. The three tools needed to carve a spoon are a hatchet, a knife and a hook knife. All incredibly sharp and really quite dangerous. Our tutor was quite the legend and a great teacher – always there when you needed him, never hovering, full of positive comments and endless interesting experiences to share. After a straightforward (and slightly gruesome) health and safety talk we got started.

1012081_701127296632214_6135259954654006615_n

Summer 2011 015

It was much harder work than I expected but it was also far more enjoyable. I felt such a sense of achievement seeing the slivers of wood collect and the smell of the fire was fantastic. Most of us agreed that the atmosphere and peace was even more desirable than the carving itself. Winston wondered between the park, a log and my knee.

carving with winst

Me carving

Summer 2011 014

After the hard work was complete we were rewarded with three bean cous cous chilli, and then totally spoilt by getting to toast mega (seriously mega) marshmallows around the fire. Winston didn’t eat much chilli – the sloping table and make shift bottle holder was far too distracting.

Summer 2011 029

We were all SO pleased with how our spoons turned out. What an accomplishment when photographed next to the raw material we started with! One brand new porridge spoon.

spoon carving

Fairburn Ings along with Steve from Friends of Fryston Wooods are going to be running regular carving workshops at the reserve. Unless children are over 12 they can’t really do much, but the atmosphere is wonderful and it takes place right by the park.

E xx

Share:

3 Comments

  1. Kathryn
    30th October 2014 / 11:11 pm

    Sounds fab! Give me a heads up on the next event and I will join you. X

    • 4th November 2014 / 9:01 pm

      Will do! Fairburn Ings have lots of family volunteering days too…they make bug houses and make wicker houses. We’ve not been before but there is one this Saturday! x

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to Blog via Email