Heather, Coconut and Fish

I have to admit I don't stray very far from willow, maybe the odd bit of field rush when I am working with groups, but on the whole I am a willow man. So how did I end up driving all the way to Thurso to attend a heather Creel making course.
It may have started with Patrick McGlinchey of the Backwoods Survival School, www.backwoodsurvival.co.uk, who I have been teaching basket making. Well that's not quite right, it would be better to say I have been helping Patrick improve his willow basketry. He makes some pretty nifty birch bark containers, and his cordage is second to none. Yet his desire to use locally sourced naturally occurring materials can be infectious and maybe it has started rubbing off on me.

I make creels from willow and I love the weaves such as the mouth wale and what Joe Hogan calls the 'Irish Twist'. In fact the latter turns up in most of my baskets as a sort of signature. There is a feeling of connecting to something very ancient when using these weaves and I feel they are worth preserving. So maybe this is another reason I found myself heading north up the A9.
The course was held at the Castletown Heritage Centre and was run by Tim Johnson, artist, photographer, and weaver of natural materials. The whole thing had been instigated by Joanne B Karr a local artist specialising in paper making and also weaving natural materials. She has been involved in some fascinating projects and even hosted a recent international papermaking conference, take a look at her blog.
Their inspiration had come from a local lady Sheila Moir who had donated a heather creel to the Castletown Centre. The creel is probably over a hundred years old and thought to have been last used in the 1930's. It belonged to a local crofter Sinclair Mac Donald who used it to carry fish back to his croft following his fishing trips. We all handled this creel and were obviously not the first to do so, it had just been left in an outhouse following Sinclair's death, apart from some new cord around the border of the creel no conservation work had been carried out. Yet the heather still provided a substantial structure for this creel. Oh and the coconut, well not literally but in the form of coir which provides the cordage which binds the heather together.

The story is in the material and for a willow head such as myself this is what struck me. Heather and dockens (dock stems), locally found with no food value. Heather is strong and durable, it can be used as rope, thatch, matting, dye and creels, and probably many other uses. It defines the landscape, provides colour to the season and pollen to insects; place, people, products. Coir is not local but is an abundant material from a far away place. Its  link is the sea, those that live by it, the product of one coastline intermingled with another far distant. I wonder if one of those creels ever made a trip to far off lands? No matter, the link is in the coir.

Heather, fish and coconut. Oh and Patrick Mc Glinchey, he and I have been looking at the construction of fish traps, but that is another story.      

Willow at Woodside

When I was at Gardening Scotland this year I met Emma Emmerson of Woodside Plant Centre, we did the usual exchange of cards with a follow up email after the event. Emma was having one of her regular themed days at the centre, a rose weekend, and invited me along to do my final plant support demonstration of the year.

Woodside is near Ancrum not far from Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders, a walled garden with some beautifully established beds and features. It has a cafe, plant and tool sales, local produce and a resident garden designer, Peter Warner, who offers advice and arranges visits for potential clients.

I really loved the atmosphere and the cheerful friendly staff, everyone wanted to chat and there was a very inclusive feel about the place. The young girl touring the garden with a tray of preserves and chutneys for people to try was something I particularly remember.

Well worth a visit and watch out for the themed events, www.woodsidegarden.co.uk

For Whom the Dells Toll

It has been a while since the last blog and a lot has been happening. However a call the other day sent me hot footing to Auchinstarry to take a look at the infamous Dells.
The high winds we experienced the other week have caused a bit of upset on a few living willow structures, luckily all the installations at Auchinstarry were fine except for the Dells. I don't think the top banding is ever going to work until there is enough new growth to pull the structures in. Thankfully even with the banding being pulled about in the wind the structures are trending inwards and not pulling out. I think this is the fourth time I have re-woven the top banding, and something tells me it won't be the last.

It was a good opportunity to have a look at how the rest of the installations were doing. The take up has been good, in fact it was hard to see any failures. I am sure it helps buying in good quality willow rather than depending on material from old biomass sites. The rules of good basketry are just as applicable when it comes to living willow, selection of material is always top of the list.

The Dells, The Dells

For the last few weeks I have been working on a project for the Waterways Trust and British Waterways. Based at Auchinstarry Marina on the Clyde Canal near Croy a 'Sense and Sensitivities Garden' has been created and a number of artists have been involved in placing wood, ceramic, glass and structural pieces around the Marina.
My contribution has been a series of living willow installations most notably the 'Dells'. These proved a little challenging as the commission was to have the top curved in while I became focussed on the arches, which I quite liked sort of leaning back. They reminded me of a group holding hands and leaning back. However I finally overcame this slight obsession and now the Dells are happily enclosed.