Suitable for: Beginners, Improvers, Adults and Families

Considerations: Outdoors based, must be comfortable standing for longish periods

What to wear: Outdoor/wet weather gear, clothes that you can get messy

Refreshments: Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available throughout the day. We also have a fantastic on-site cafe, Embers, run by local chef 'Shropshire Lad'. 

The course: 

A great opportunity to spend a day with a master pole lathe turner, learning the basic principles and techniques to get you started!

You will learn:
- How to identify suitable green wood lengths for turning
- How to prepare a round 'billet' on a shave-horse
- How to set up a pole lathe effectively
- How to use a roughing-out gouge to begin turning and creating shapes
- How to use other chisels (flat, skew, spindle gouge) to improve your 'finish' and create interesting shapes & designs
- How to create a range of useful items on a pole-lathe - rolling pins, dibbers, chair legs, toys & rattles, etc.
- Finishing - burning, burnishing, oiling
- Different types and uses for lathes (eg. bungee lathes, bowl turning) - discussion/demonstration only

Tutor: Tom Dillon 
Tom first discovered his passion for green woodwork during a 2010 course at the Centre for Alternative Technology, where tutor Bob Shaw sparked a lasting connection to the woods and traditional craft—setting Tom on a path to make the woodland his life and livelihood. 
 
"In 2011, I was lucky enough to spend 6 months with Mike Abbott as the main assistant on his chair-making courses, which totally changed the trajectory of my life. It was a whole new world to me. I lived off-grid in a caravan, learned about fire for heating and cooking and drying/bending chair-parts, and fell in love with trees and craft and nature, and a simpler, slower, truer way of life.” 
 
Over the next few years, he continued living in woodland settings around Herefordshire, honing skills in green woodwork, coppicing, roundwood building, and small-scale woodland management alongside experienced craftspeople. Since 2014, he has been teaching green woodwork and coppicing through organisations including Ruskin Mill Trust, Small Woods, and Black Mountains College. 
 
“There is nothing quite like cutting, splitting and shaping green wood. Every bit of tree is different, and needs to be listened to and worked with, rather than on. I think humans in our time really need to learn that simple lesson - how to be and work with nature again. 
I love spending most of my days outdoors, moving with the seasons, and trying to find that 'flow state' where magic happens and beautiful new things appear in the world. 
It is always a pleasure and an honour to welcome folk into the woods and witness them slow down and recalibrate through the simple act of carving a spoon or making their own stool or chair.” 
  
Tom has an MA in 'Special Education - Practical Skills Transformative Learning' from Lillehammer University (2019), is a Forest Schools Practitioner (2010), a Member of 'Association of Pole-Lathe Turners & Green Woodworkers', 'Landworkers' Alliance', and 'Scythe Association of Great Britain & Ireland', and proud Co-owner of Clissett Wood.