Mallinson Ltd - woodwork courses in Dorset. Perfect short breaks for everyone.

This project gives guests the opportunity to learn a good variety of skills - cleaving, using a drawknife and spokeshave, boring holes in freshly cut ash and weaving a seat. By the end of the two days you can expect to leave with a completed stool.

The first dates are July 19th-20th and November 22nd-23rd. The cost is £293.75 including VAT.

Woodworking For Wildlife

Our second new course (also held over two days) is all about making an array of habitats for garden wildlife. Again, there'll be a good range of green woodworking techniques in use as you make a variety of items - the possible projects include bee logs, ladybird towers, hedgehog houses, willow nesting boxes, bird feeders and lacewing nests.

The first dates for this one are June 21st-22nd and September 27th-28th. The cost is £293.75 including VAT.

For both courses, as you'd expect, we'll be providing our delicious lunches. You can book places on either
(or both) of these new courses via the booking
form in the normal way, or call direct on 01308 485111.

The Other Side Of The World

We're pleased to be able to say that one of our bowls (from the January bowl carving course) has made it all the way to Australia. That and a couple of world firsts too - it can't be bad going for a woodland workshop in a small Dorset valley!

March Madness

Although we've no plans to run any camping courses, last weekend saw us host 20 (yes, twenty) ten-year-olds for a woodland workshop party. It wasn't the warmest of weather and the dining tent - with its log burning stove - came into its own as a kind of dormitory for them all. Unfortunately that left no room for me, so I spent the night out in the open with just the cover of the parachute 'ceilings', sheltered by the log walls. True, it is a fine line between bravery and utter foolishness but I'm happy to say a great time was had by all and it's quite something to have 20 willing helpers keenly collecting firewood as the woodland comes alive first thing in the morning.

Why am I telling you this? Simply because someone called about a course last week and was wondering if they'd be warm enough if they came any time other than high summer. I can now say, with the voice of experience, that the woodland workshop is cosy enough to spend the night in, in March!

And that's it for another month. Before I had over to Carolyn and Mace, please note that I'm on holiday from the 26th-30th March so correspondence will be a little delayed. However, online bookings can still be made in the normal way.

Thanks for reading.

Guy and the team

Tree Of The Month: Ash

In March we see the full flowering of spring. Animals - and humans - rouse themselves after the long, dark winter, spring flowers are everywhere, and evenings are becoming noticeably lighter. March 21st is the Spring Equinox, where day and night are of equal length. In the rush of spring is the promise of summer, as clocks spring forward into British Summertime on the 25th.

The Ash, Fraxinus excelsior, is the tree of the Spring Equinox, perhaps because in many ancient traditions it is a tree associated with enlightenment and an understanding of the interconnectedness of all things. In Scandinavian mythology, Odin hung himself upside down from an ash tree in order to gain enlightenment. This was Yggdrasil, the World Tree, which linked the gods, the earth and the underworld.

At a time when we are poised at the point of balance between the dark and inward-looking months of winter and the light and growth of a new spring, Ash represents a balance between our rational and intuitive selves. In Celtic mythology, Ash was known as the tree of enchantment, a powerful tool linking the three circles of existence that are past, present and future to the Celtic understanding of the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

In the woodland Ash is a pioneer tree, seeding so thickly from its many seeds or keys that it is sometimes viewed as a weed, but in fact it is a useful, fast-growing hardwood tree that can make up to six feet of growth in a season; furthermore, faster grown Ash makes stronger timber. The wood is tough, flexible and springy, properties utilised for many applications including tool handles and hockey sticks, cricket stumps and oars, the rims of cartwheels, and the chassis of Morgan motor cars. Ash cleaves well and can be steam-bent when green or seasoned, making it invaluable for all manner of green woodworking, (Mace makes chairs of green Ash), furniture making and turnery.

As firewood, Ash is prized, for reasons that this traditional rhyme on the qualities of burning wood explains:

... But ash logs, all smooth and grey,
Burn them green or old;
Buy up all that come your way;
They're worth their weight in gold.

Carolyn Brightwater

In The Woods This Month - Hedge-laying

A welcome break from the usual trudging about in mud with a chainsaw came in the form of a spot of hedge-laying. The process of laying (also called 'pleaching') a hedge in order to make a stock-proof barrier is as ancient as humans' desire to contain and breed domesticated livestock.

As an agricultural craft, however, hedge-laying became common and widespread as a result of the hedges planted after the Enclosure acts of 1750-1850. At that time wool was more valuable than grain, and the political will was to displace the peasant communities who predominantly practised subsistence level agriculture on common land, and replace them with more profitable sheep. Hedging and hedge-laying became one means by which the sheep be contained, and obvious, sturdy and permanent boundaries could be placed across the landscape to demarcate both the new land ownership and the political will behind it, so hedge-laying is a unique part of our social and cultural heritage.

There are many regionally distinct styles of laying, adding to our sense of local identity. All involve cutting the hedge trees at the base to force vigorous new growth, which creates a dense, stockproof barrier. Although the mechanics look brutal when first carried out, hedge laying, like coppicing it is another method of cutting trees down to prolong life, use and vigour. Ecologically, a well laid hedge provides a rich and varied habitat (especially for wild birds and small mammals) and can act as a wildlife corridor and retreat through large intensively farmed crop fields.

Next time you see a well laid hedge, remind yourself that it is an ecological and cultural legacy, and that somebody endured thorns, foul weather and hard toil in order to preserve it ...

Mace Brightwater