Bark craft (full day)

Come and spend a day learning the basics to working with the magical raw material that is tree bark! For thousands of years, bark has been used for applications from food containers to canoes, baskets to rope-making. The material is a beautiful, sustainable and inexpensive natural material for makers; the catch is it can only be harvested at a certain time of the year, and needs knowledge of what to look for and where best to find it.

This short course gives you the chance to experience the whole process, from stripping bark from the log to weaving useful objects. You'll be guided through the process, and shown the skills to let you continue this magical process at home. We'll look at the pros and cons of different species, and how to dry and store bark so you can have raw material available any time of the year. We'll learn to handle fresh bark, as well as rehydrating bark dried for storage.

The course will start with an introduction to the material, a look at some finished products, and a session harvesting your own bark with simple tools. From there, we will tackle a simple project - a knife sheath for your sloyd knife, or maybe a bangle - before moving on to a small woven basket. What you make is, of course, yours to keep. If you're keen to take away some rolls for future use, we can sort that too.

Tea/coffee will be available. Please bring a packed lunch, any any other refreshments if you like.

This course is for adults (18+). But we do offer similar courses for youngsters. Please get in touch with any queries.