Mae'r Ardd Furiog yn aros am eich presenoldeb - (The Walled Garden awaits your presence)[Welsh]
News - by Wendy of the Wool:
The weather kept us on our toes at our last meet. Starting off nice and sunny, it soon changed to cloudy with some dark, threatening clouds coming along and a few spots of rain that didn't really amount to much. However, as seems to be typical of this excuse for summer, it turned out really nice when we were packed up and heading home!
We had some drama in the form of the Fire Brigade who came to investigate an alarm going off in the council depot opposite the Walled Garden. Turns out the alarm had been set off by a cat chasing a mouse. Phew!
It was a quieter meet this time with some of our regulars out and about doing other things – big round of applause to Sue Dromey who was taking part in a 24 hour swim relay to raise money to help kids with disabilities learn to swim – well done Sue!
Back at the garden, Rich made two spoons; Ranger Dave worked on bowls, Potty Steve worked on a spoon, and some knives. Jamie and David Wilkins worked on carving Christmas Gnomes and Wendy worked on some needle felted animals for a baby garland.
We also had the pleasure of seeing Fay, one of the Walled Garden volunteers, who had come to cut some hazel for pathway edging around the Dyer's garden, who was helped by David Wilkins to saw down to size, and Rich to axe them into stakes.
Words Of The Week, Brought to you by the Knight of Day:
Bummer - A truck for hauling logs.
Butt - The base of a tree.
Butt cut - The first cut above the stump of a tree.
Butt log - The first log cut above the stump of a tree.
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
