The BBC2 TV series 'Mastercrafts', presented by Monty Don and including an episode filmed in the Woodland Workshop, started broadcasting on the 12th February 2010. The very first episode was 'our' one - with the focus on wood.

It was a fantastic experience and a joy to spend six weeks with the three trainees that featured in the show, working our way through our range of green woodworking courses and discussing the role of traditional craft in the 21st century. Tom, Charles and Sarah worked incredibly hard and we were all delighted with their final projects. It was strange to go from telling guests that our courses are non-competitive to finding myself having to stand back and let them get on with their final project without helping - as this time it WAS a competition!

We were honoured to have Mike Abbott here on the final days to judge the work of the trainees. Mike has been working in green wood for many years and wrote the books that helped me on my transition from cabinet-making to green woodwork. We could not have had a more respected green woodworker to decide the winner. I was also pleased not to have to pick between them at the end of six weeks working together!

Our neighbours at Forde Abbey were also incredibly helpful and we were able to spend some time in their woods selecting suitable ash trees for felling for the final projects - using horses of course. The winning chair is now on display, to be admired by the 50,000 members of the public that will visit Forde Abbey this year. Quite an accolade for the winner.

A bonus for me that came out of the research for the series was to get to know and correspond with Robin Wood who, as well as being a fine craftsman making bowls on a pole lathe, writing books and teaching, also helps run the Heritage Crafts Association. This was founded a year ago and has recently been granted charitable status. With the Mastercrafts series and other public exposure for traditional crafts, I am sure the Association's establishment has been very timely and will help further spread the word about traditional crafts - be it for heritage, leisure, product, therapy or education.

I hope that you enjoy the Mastercrafts series and, if you feel inspired, do sign up for one of our courses and see how you get on compared to the trainees! You can even make exactly the same chair as they did on our 'Make A Chair From A Tree' course, or for the less ambitious try 'Carving A Wooden Bowl' or 'Pole Lathe And Green Woodworking': they're both very popular and great fun!

As you might expect, there's also a book published to accompany the 'Mastercrafts' series, which was launched on 12th February as well.

One of the book's six chapters is devoted to wood and our woodland workshop and if you would like to order it, it can be bought directly here (and at a discount too!).

The Trainees: Sarah Charlton

I think Sarah would be the first to acknowledge that when she arrived at the Woodland Workshop she had very little practical experience of accurate woodworking!

This is not a problem under normal circumstances as most of our guests arrive with little or no experience, and all go away having learnt new skills and with a feeling of pride in the work they have created. However, for Sarah it was rather different in that for the TV show she was in very real competition with two much more experienced woodworkers.

I have to say I felt that Sarah did herself proud, working very hard to learn as much as she could and putting in very long hours to get the practical experience needed to improve her skill level, and all in a very short period of time. Sarah seemed to enjoy every moment of being immersed in the woods and I'll never forget the many comedy moments that we all enjoyed - notably fishing weed out of the pond whilst standing in a tiny dinghy: how she didn't fall in I will never know.

Sarah's final piece was a huge achievement and I think I'm right to say she surprised herself with what she created - a well-made chair with bundles of character. There is the saying that everybody has a chair within them, and that chairs express a person's character very well. Sarah's chair is a fine example of that.

What gives me most pleasure is to hear how Sarah has continued with her green woodworking now that she is back at University and plans to take it further in the future when she graduates. I keep in close contact with her still and look forward to hearing how her green wood stick furniture progresses in the future.

“Spending time at Holditch wood with Guy gave me the precious gift of seeing life from a new perspective. The beautiful, peaceful, natural surroundings enabled me to find peace within. Working traditionally, with no noise, just natural inspiration surrounding me was magical; I still miss the warmth of the fire on my face.”

“Since returning home I am building on the skills I learnt by continuing to make chairs out of Hazel and Ash sourced locally from Chambers Wood. The chairs I make are sculptural individual pieces. I will be running courses from Chambers Wood in the spring, holding event days at Chambers and attending local craft and garden fairs. I am in the process of setting up a website; however in the meantime I can be contacted by email: sarahj_charlton@hotmail.com.”

The Trainees: Charlie Hooper

Charlie has always had a passion for wood and making things and obviously has fond memories of woodworking as a child. He was a pleasure to teach and picked up the skills very quickly. What made the biggest impression on me (apart from the quick wit, which was almost as good as his fantastic loud shirt collection) was his attention to detail and perseverance to achieve excellence in everything he did. It is an important quality to be able to focus and discipline ones self to make something as well as you possibly can. Although a couple of mistakes in the final project meant that his actual chair was not finished come judging time, I believe he made the right decision to not try and finish it for finishing it's sake. He wanted to make a really good chair and not a quick one - and that he did.

It was on Christmas Eve that he sent through his pictures of the finished chair and frankly I was blown away: if a re-match was on the cards he would definitely have won votes!

Charlie is continuing with his green woodworking which is enormously gratifying for me, and we are in close and regular contact. His new project in the woods is in its infancy but to keep updated on this and his other activities, you can register for blog updates here.

Charlie also had the very kind idea of buying me three lovely Indian runner ducks for our pond - fantastic for weed clearing, eggs and comedy value. They are called Sarah, Charlie and Tom of course! I also owe a big thank you to Charlie for snapping away with his camera all of the time - he's given us some great photos for posterity, our brochure and this website. I could never find time to do it myself during filming.

“I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to learn under the tutorship of Guy Mallinson. His attention to detail was second to none. If I learned two very important lessons during my six week apprenticeship they were: Never rush your work. If a job is worth doing it is worth doing well. And secondly that anything less than perfect is not good enough! These have become my personal benchmarks as I strive to hone and improve my skills.”

“I am currently designing and building a Forest Garden in Sussex where people will come to learn about growing and harvesting food from the seven different layers, from the root zone to the high canopy and also where they can learn a variety of traditional woodland crafts. The experience I gained from the Mastercrafts program was invaluable for my work and my future and I am immensely grateful to both Guy and the BBC for the opportunity.”

The Trainees: Tom Vaughan

Tom's experience in woodwork (and in teaching) was apparent from the outset. While I'm sure he is an excellent woodwork teacher at school he has so much additional potential! It was fantastic to be able to hone his considerable skills and to push the limits - which he certainly did with his winning chair.

Tom's not unaccustomed to all-nighters when working to a deadline and, like the others, really worked hard to pull off what was an amazing feat of designing and making his first green wood rocking chair with no help after such a very short period of training.

Tom also more than pulled his weight with the physically demanding skittle challenge which saved me a lot of time and sweat! Since the course, it's been great to chat to Tom regularly and to hear how he is progressing with chair making and making inroads into his ambition to learn and practice timber framing - a very sensible and exciting road to take.

I will be watching with great interest to see how his career develops from here - he has the makings of a true craftsman.

I also want to thank Tom for making our wonderful floating duck house -

www.devonhenhouses.co.uk

(and no, not on expenses) which now has a lawn fitted and Tom, Charlie and Sarah happily living on it in harmony. Roll on spring and some ducklings with a bit of luck.

Tom's chair will be on public display at Forde Abbey (near our Woodland Workshop) throughout 2010 so do go and inspect it in detail if you're coming this way - it's well worth it. His Greenwood Chair Project web site is good viewing, and there's more information from Tom about the chair on this pdf too. What's more, I'm pleased to say that Tom will be helping on some of our courses this year.

“I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of my time in Dorset being involved with the Greenwood Mastercrafts programme. Learning from a true craftsman, using top quality tools in a fantastic location, while aiming to craft functional and beautiful pieces of furniture was a real pleasure. I feel incredibly lucky to have been given such a in-depth insight into greenwood craft, and I am certain that it will be a play a part in 'what I do' for the rest of my life.”

The Chair Maker: David Saltmarsh

As part of the trainees' introduction to green woodworking we visited David Saltmarsh, a local friend who makes beautiful individual chairs entirely by hand.

David's work is a great example of what can be achieved with skill and lots of practice, although in fact his chair-making takes second place to running his organic smallholding; he and his wife can often be seen selling their crops at the nearby Bridport market.

When we visited the workshop I was immediately struck by one of his chairs - it simply stood out from the others. After some discussion it emerged that not only was it for sale but that the yew back and arms were made from trees that had been felled after I had left my last home (and first Woodland Workshop) at Mangerton House. The chair was made from the trees that my three boys used to play in and sling their swing from! I simply had to have it!

It now has pride of place next to the Aga in our kitchen at home and somehow it is an especially satisfying feeling to be relaxing in this chair with a large glass of David's special home made cider in my hand.

David has recently put up his first website to show the chairs that he has for sale, Five Penny Chairs - do have a look!