Making a spinning top on a pole lathe
Robin Fawcett demonstrates how to make a spinning top on a pole lathe. An ash log is riven into quarters, using a maul and froe. It’s cut to length with a pull saw and shaped with a side axe, before...
View ArticleThe lost tradition of rake making
Trevor Austin is the last of the English rake makers. This video, taken in the Kentish village of Smeeth, shows the rake workshop established in 1870 and the nearby Ash coppice that provided the rake...
View ArticleMaking a Windsor Chair on The Generation Game in 1974
Stuart King demonstrates the making of a Windsor chair at a time when this Bruce Forsyth show reached an audience of 18 million. I have since had my hair cut!
View ArticleMaking a Windsor Chair
Stuart King explores the making of a windsor chair by attending the development week at The Skills Centre at Axminster Tools in Devon. It is intended that the five day course will be a regular feature...
View ArticleMaking Cypriot traditional rush seated chairs
1993 video of Cypriot traditional rush seated chairs.
View ArticleRomanian bow lathe
In 1998 I was privileged to visit the Constantin family in Romania to film the making of drop spindles from lime wood (linden) on a primitive bow lathe.
View ArticleEdwardian Farm cherry ladders and fruit picking
Stuart King’s home village of Holmer Green, high in the Chiltern Hills of Bucks, has a fruit growing tradition that goes back several centuries. In 2010 Stuart took part in an episode of the popular TV...
View ArticleSpoon making in Romania
In 1998 I was privileged to visit Ion Constantin in Romania to film him creating his range of domestic woodware including the spoon he is seen making from lime wood (linden). This is a true craftsman...
View ArticleBodger’s Ball 2011
The 2011 get-together of the Association of Pole Lathe Turners and Green Woodworkers (APT). Their website is at www.bodgers.org.uk.
View ArticlePann Mill is now the only working water mill on the river Wye, High Wycombe
Pann Mill is now the only working water mill on the river Wye. The first recorded mill on this High Wycombe site is in the Domesday census of 1086. Pann Mill is now under the gardianship of the High...
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Little Missenden, Threatened by High Speed Rail (HS2)
Little Missenden is just down the lane from my house. It is a pretty Chiltern Hills brick and flint village, recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 with a Saxon church already old at the time. A half...
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Wizardry in Wood, London
Wizardry in Wood, London, Oct 2012 Stuart King As a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Turners it was my privilege to be in involved with organising the recent Wizardry in Wood exhibition at the...
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Wassail
Wassailing is an ancient English tradition that is said to go back as far as Saxon and Wassailing is an ancient English tradition that is said to go back as far as Saxon and Viking times. The word...
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Drovers Road
In my village of Holmer Green we have a number of old track ways that through history, from time to time would have been used for droving animals, particularly sheep. There are historical references to...
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The Wildwood Blog
The Wildwood 1 Wildwood is a truly magical and special place; Wildwood is not the true name of this Eden hidden away in the Chiltern Hills above the Misbourne valley but it is so appropriate in many...
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Stuart King on TV 2012
Alan Titchmarsh Show ITV It is good to see the media seemingly taking more interest in traditional crafts these days, let us hope this is a continuing trend. I was asked to contribute my expertise to...
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Snow time
The winter of 2012/13 has been wet, cold and snowy, and the Wildwood is sleeping, but not for too much longer. The roar of chain saws will soon be heard and the workman like growl of diesel engined...
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Mystery dells
A feature of many of the Chiltern ancient woodlands are the mysterious dells. These dells, often referred to as chalk pits vary in size but many are huge excavations, but what was the purpose of them?...
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