Woodcraft on display at Trees for Life fayre
THE gardens at Government House were transformed into a wood-crafting haven on Saturday as stallholders showed off their skills and crafts.
The Tree and Woodcraft Fayre, organised by Guernsey Trees for Life, celebrated how trees and woodlands benefit people and the environment through arts, crafts and activities.
Alan Richie was a scout leader for more than 40 years, during which time he learned to hand-craft wooden tent pegs.
‘It’s a hobby for me,’ he said. ‘When I was a Scout leader we used to use the traditional tents which required wooden pegs and at one time they became quite difficult to get a hold of, so I started making them myself and they lasted for ages. It’s just fun to do.
‘I’m using sweet chestnut which I only cut down last week, so it’s green and sappy and really easy to work with.
‘Once it’s dry and the sap has evaporated, it’ll last forever unless it’s hit into the ground at the wrong angle.’
Karen Marshall was teaching children how to make hapa zome, a Japanese art form of crushing leaves and flowers on cotton with a hammer to create art work.
‘This can be done at home really easily and it’s a way of decorating material,’ she said.
‘It’s a sustainable form of art, it’s biodegradable and you can search for leaves and flowers to use too.
‘The kids have been loving this and they’ve made some lovely patterns. Any age can do it but it’s mainly been younger ones today.
It was not just the smell of burning wood attracting people to the Scout tent, but the activity of toasting marshmallows and making s’mores.
‘The s’mores have been going down really well and it’s raising awareness for the Scouts,’ said leader Mark Page.
‘We’ve also got some small pioneering structures, at full scale you’d be able to climb up at observe the area, and we’ve also got the catapult to fling and project things.’
Francis Russell is known for his work for the States on the Asian hornet team, but in his spare time he gets creative, crafting traditional hay rakes and wooden items.
‘I tried to do something a bit practical for this event, showing people what you can do with materials to make things.
‘I went to a similar event in Devon and met a man making this kind of stuff. Afterwards I looked him up and saw he’d written a book so I bought it and started to work on some of those projects.’
The traditional hay rakes he made are crafted from ash or sycamore.
All of the teeth on the rake are also handmade to size.
