Bend it like Beckham

Chippendale, Scotland's only independent furniture school, bears a huge name to live up to, but with courses in wood-bending, marquetry, upholstery, restoration and more, it is flourishing under a new generation, finds Mary Miers

- Mary Miers

IN a larch-boarded studio warmed by burning sawdust, a specialist in cutting-edge medical technology is whittling away at a piece of walnut with a small hook knife. The retired NHS professional dreams of making a writing desk, but, for now, he's set on carving wooden spoons and has enrolled on a two-day workshop with visiting tutor Louise Forbes.

It's the weekend and many full-time students have decamped to Northumberland for a murder-mystery house party, but there's still a buzz of activity at the Chippendale International School of Furniture. As Rob from Ottawa in Canada-ex-military, carpenter, arborealist-Eileen, a local teacher, and Pippa, an Edinburgh-based influencer, chip away at their spoons, a few students on the intensive Professional Course are putting in some quiet hours in the main workshop. The atmosphere, despite the intermittent screech of a bandsaw, is surprisingly therapeutic. Projects in progress furnish orderly workbenches: a latticed coffee table, a steam-bent toboggan, an oak settle with inlaid copper leaves.

As his dog snoozes beside his tool trolley, Barney Hagger absorbs himself in the new carcass he's making for a 1967 HMV radiogram he inherited from his grandfather. The carpenter from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire plans to set up as an independent designer maker and is here to acquire the experience and professional qualification. He credits his girlfriend for supporting him financially and keeping their house going as he lives in a caravan beside the school. 'Every morning, I walk through the woods, take off my wellies and step into the studio. It's the coolest place,' he enthuses. 'Everybody's supercreative and we all engage with each other and share banter and terminology.'