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

If it can be moved, it feels like we've moved it! The last few weeks have seen us relocating our home and our office to Higher Holditch Farm, and all the ground-work for the new woodland workshop is proceeding well too.

I don't have any photos as yet, but the pond is now full, the working areas level, and everything we learned as the first workshop at Mangerton evolved is being put into practice from the word 'go' this time around! It's proving really nice to be able to start afresh with so much more practical knowledge to call upon.

I can already say with confidence that the new location will be significantly better than the previous one to work in, and visually it is a really wonderful spot, teaming with wildlife and with stunning sunsets thrown in for good measure.

Dorset Art Weeks

Marking the end of an era, the first woodland workshop's swansong is the 2008 Dorset Art Weeks event. From the 24th May to the 8th June we're introducing green wood working to visitors at Mangerton and I hope to see both old and new faces as we do so. So far, despite the atrocious weather, it's been very good ... but it would be nice if the sun shone for a while! And then come the 8th June it's all change and the final move of the workshop.

http://www.dorsetartweeks.co.uk/

Picture Competition

And the winner is ... It hardly seems like a year since we launched the picture competition for our guests but it is, and so I'm pleased to announce our first winner!

After much deliberation, I decided to pick Maria Timperly and the great picture of young Jack deeply 'in the zone' on the pole lathe. One of the best aspects of my work is to see youngsters take to the pole lathe so intuitively (and, interestingly, often more readily than adults) and I think this picture captures it all very well.

Overall, I was really pleased with the many photos that were sent in and my commiserations to all the other entrants. I hope you're not discouraged and that you'll take more photos on your next course - the prize (a free course) has to be worth having! We are definitely running the competition again this year, so do keep the entries coming.

Carbon Positive Awards

And talking of competitions for a change we've been an entrant too, in our case in the regional Carbon Positive Awards, and I'm delighted to say we're runners-up. (OK, it would be better to be the winner, but there was some pretty stiff competition!) To read more about these awards please visit the scheme's web site:

http://www.bitc.org.uk

In The Press

We've had not one but two editorial features in 'British Woodworking' magazine - one about our lovely little Chinese spokeshaves, and the other covering both the new Wishbone Stool and our courses. (Talking of the Wishbone Stool, it's just finished its first exhibition, and will next be shown at Decorex, 21st-24 Sept, Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London.) What's more, 'British Woodworking' are launching a new magazine called 'Living Woods', and the trial edition of that included our courses too. All in all, that has to be good PR in anyone's eyes!

We are always very grateful for this sort of coverage: it helps to spread the word about what we're trying to achieve here, and reaches a whole new audience for us. If you'd like to read more, we've added the 'British Woodwork' articles to our 'In The News' page, as pdf downloads.

And that's all for this month. As always, thanks for reading.

Guy and the team

Tree of the month - Alder - - Alnus glutinosa

Last month's tree was a deciduous conifer, of which there are a few; this month's is the only broadleaved tree that produces cones - the alder. This is a small tree which if growing unhindered in favourable conditions can reach up to 100ft, but as it commonly grows in difficult environments or in competition with larger neighbours, tends to reach 40-50 ft.

Alder is a pioneer species, and has evolved coping mechanisms to deal with the challenges that involves. It grows happily in wet ground, and with a strong root system is often planted to help stabilise river banks. This means coping with soil conditions that are low in essential nitrogen so, like members of the pea family, alder is a nitrogen fixer; by means of a symbiotic relationship with bacteria living on its roots, the tree can take nitrogen from the air and fix it in root-borne nodules, while the bacteria benefit by feeding on sugars manufactured by the tree. The nodules are quite large and numerous, and are easily visible on the roots of riverside trees when the water is low.

As a pioneer species, alder also shares with birch a similar method of mass propagation - masses of tiny, winged seeds are produced, and spread by river and wind to cover a large area, germinating fast wherever they settle in the hope that a few will survive to adulthood. The seeds are uniquely well-evolved for the habitat and habits of the alder, being both light enough to stay airborne, and equipped with light, corky fins to keep them afloat in the water. The watery habitat of alder also informs a traditional use of the timber; as it retains its strength and is very slow to rot when submerged in water it was used for underwater supports for buildings, piers and bridges, including the Rialto in Venice.

Compared to times past, when all parts of the tree were used and valued, the alder is not now considered particularly useful. Now only coppiced on a small scale for charcoal, this product was once valued by blacksmiths, and considered so essential to gunpowder production that alder coppice was planted near to gunpowder mills. The wood was widely used for the soles of clogs in times when they were essential footwear for every worker in factory, mill and farm, the wood being easy to work, light when dry, and resistant to rot when damp. Alder had a lovely historical use in the household, where twigs of alder were bought into the house in spring to catch woodworms. The beetles hatched as the weather grew warmer and laid their eggs in the alder, which was then burnt. The young leaves were also strewn or hung up at this time of year as a natural fly-paper; fleas and bugs which would be multiplying with the coming spring would become trapped on the sticky young leaves- A. glutinosa - which were again then burnt. The wood was also very highly regarded for turning, especially for bowls, for which the quick-growing trees were coppiced at about 8-10" diameter. Sadly there is little market now for these historical uses, and the timber does not reach a size to be considered useful to the modern timber trade. Although alder has a limited modern-day role in the factory production of brush backs and tool handles, it has been described as 'a lovely timber in search of a new role'.

In folk tradition, alder is a tree of balance, being associated with water, but also with fire, due to the red colour of the catkins and of the wood itself, which contains tannins that colour the cut surface. These tannins made the bark useful in the tanning process, and also produced a range of dye colours, from yellow, red and brown through to black, but in early times the dramatic staining of the cut timber led to the idea that the tree was bleeding and that to cut it was unlucky. From this arose the belief that the tree embodied an evil spirit - the erlkonig of German legend. This translates as 'alder king' but is also rendered as 'elf king', and in many European cultures, the alder is traditionally associated with faeries and spirits, and is seen as the guardian of the faerie realm.

In Irish legend, the first man was created out of alder, and the first woman out of rowan. The English name alder derives from the Old English ealdor, meaning chief, which in turn gave us the office of alderman. Many English place names also derive from alder, as befits a widely distributed native tree, which has been well-established in Britain for at least 6000 years. As well as the obvious Aldershot and Alderley, place names with eller and aller, as in Northallerton, also indicate an association with alders. Ellerker in my old stamping ground of East Yorkshire combines both tree and habitat with the derivation of alder with the Norwegian kjerr, meaning wet ground.

Carolyn Brightwater