I joined in the activities in the woodyard at the Weald & Downland museum on Thursday. Luckily I missed the all day torrential rain on Wednesday and although a little moist to start it was a pleasant day in the woods.
I was there to make besom brooms and put into practive everything I learnt from Alan on the recent course. Ben and John were aiming to make charcoal in an oil drum as a demonstration so it was a bit of a bus man’s holiday for me. The oil drum is a quick demonstration in comparison to the large kilns or an earth burn and it will make charcoal in the small quantities used in the museum work to fill in between other burns.
You may have heard of horse logging and even oxen logging. This week was donkey logging as the donkeys hauled out poles for the hop field and delivered loads of split firewood to the houses.
This english oak frame being put together has given me a few ideas for the new garden shed I’m designning, although not on quiten the same scale and probably not with the complicated joints. which I’m told are dovetail lap joints originating from Germany.
Ben was working on various wagon parts and John made a birch whisk for the tudor kitchens in between the donkey logging and charcoal making. The birch spray had been boiled for hours the day before to help remove the bark. This picture was taken before the head was trimmed.
And of course nothing much can happen in the woods without a fire.
I did actually get to make a few brooms despite my interest in all the other activities in the yard. For the next 3 days I will be demonstrating in my normal pitch by the smithy at the museum.
