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.'
Denne historien er fra June 19, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra June 19, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
