πρὸς ἐκείνους τοὺς ποιοῦντας - (To those that create)[Ancient Greek]
News - by Wendy of the Wool:
On arriving at our last meet up on 27 April, we found a "stack" of planes (yes that is the collective noun!), courtesy of Ranger Dave. Like moths to a light, our Essex Bodgers flocked to have a rummage, chat and take some home to give them a new lease of life!
The rest of the meet up was spent drinking tea, eating biscuits and working on various items – Mike carried on with a bowl (a competition entry for the upcoming Bodgers Ball), Carl worked on a ladle, Mr Wilkins paused between jokes to carve a spoon or two, Ranger Dave worked on a bowl, Rich carved a spoon, and Wendy worked on the felted hat that she and Richard were making for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party Themed competition at the Bodgers Ball.
Essex Bodgers at the Bodgers Ball 2024 - by Wendy of the Wool:
From what we’ve seen on social media, those who attended the Ball at the beautiful Weald and Downland Museum had a fabulous time. We were blessed with glorious, blue skies, sunny weather, and only had a tiny bit of rain Monday morning as the last of us packed up.
It was quite the change of pace from previous balls for most of our group's members. Rich was busy in his role on the committee, helping out with organisation, gate cover, setting up the Bodger's Cinema in the evening, greeting and helping Stuart King, who was the guest speaker after the AGM on Saturday, giving a talk about his collection of different types of carved spoons from around the world, with over 300 on display to see. He walked about 35 miles during the time we were there!
Carl managed the Merchandise Stall, did a fantastic job and put way too many hours in. He found a great assistant manager workhorse and crowd pleaser in Potty Steve, and had a few other volunteers pitching in. As anyone who knows Carl, he didn't just do that; arriving on Tuesday, he was constantly on the move helping out wherever needed, putting up tents and giving Stuart King a jump start when his car wouldn't start.
Of those of us who entered the competitions, Rich had the nice surprise of winning third prize in the Non-Turned Treen category with his lovely burl kuksa! Well done Rich!
It was also fabulous to see other members of our extended family group, to catch up with friends who we only see at the Ball or other woody events and to make more new friends from the lovely world of Bodging. But to top it all off we were treated to an amazing couple of hours of the Aurora!
Word Of The Week, Brought to you by Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Figaro:
The term ‘aurora borealis’ was coined by Galileo in 1619, from the Roman Aurora, goddess of the dawn and the Greek name for the north wind (Boreas). The word aurora is derived from the name of the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, who travelled from east to west announcing the coming of the sun. The words borealis and australis are derived from the names of the ancient gods of the north wind (Boreas) and the south wind (Auster) in Greco-Roman mythology.
Regular Bits n Bobs:
If you have them, bring your lathe, shave horse, and any other fun equipment. We have a few chopping blocks and one kuksa horse, so if you can bring your own please do. Note for those with Lathes, our floor space is mostly concrete, so treadles may not be able to be pegged down.
Our meets don’t just have to be about making wood chips, we encourage members to bring other crafts to the meets, be that spinning a yarn, weaving a basket, making a tool sheath from leather or bark, and even decorative methods for our wooden items. Feel free to showcase your other craft skills as we are interested in sharing and learning a wider range of skills as we grow as a group. If any members would like to lead a session of various crafts for the group, possibly a paid one day course, please get in contact with me and we will see what we can arrange for the future.
About the venue:
The venue has toilets, kitchen, and is accessible to wheelchairs. I will supply teabags, coffee, sugar and cows milk. Please bring your own non dairy milk if needed. If anyone wants to bring biscuits, cake, snacks to share that would be nice, but bring your own lunch, bowl/plate, drinking vessel, and cutlery please.
Members have suggested a contribution for Tea/Coffee a few times, so I have decided to ask for a contribution of 50p. Obviously if you bring all your own bits, there is no need to chip in.
Free secure parking is available within the walled garden. Follow the main driveway all the way down, past the public car park and the “no unauthorised vehicles” sign, then the Walled Garden’s big gates will be on the left. Toot your horn to let us know you’ve arrived.
See site map, and map links at bottom of page.
Hope to see you there, and please contact me if you have any questions.
Richard Roberts - Group Coordinator APTGW Essex Bodgers
APTGW Membership:
Our meets are free of charge to members of the Association of Polelathe Turners and Green Woodworkers.
Non members are welcome to join us a few times to see if it’s something they’d like to pursue further. We then ask that folks join the APTGW. It’s only £20 per year and membership runs from January to December each year.
Join the APTGW here: https://www.bodgers.org.uk/joinus
For just £20 a year you get:
A quarterly Gazette with news views and articles on all aspects of green woodworking.
Attend the UK Bodger's Ball always held in mid-May (this is chargeable, but a bargain!)
Win prizes for your creations at the many craft competitions at the ball
Connect with other Green Woodworkers, tool makers, rural crafters.
Learn new skills in a variety of length courses.
Attend and participate in the Annual General Meeting which is held at the Bodgers Ball
Vote on how the organisation progresses and elect, or even stand for the committee!
Here is a "what 3 words" ink to the location: https://w3w.co/sizes.soup.puddles
Google maps link to location: https://goo.gl/maps/f6rYfb92p6n43Uz99
