Madhatters Chair

Named after a recent trip to see the latest Alice in wonderland film.
I have made some improvements to the design of the childs highchair, it is now higher and more stable due to the generous splay of the legs, I plan to make a tray that can be easily attached to the arms.

Childrens High Chair

Suggested by my wife as something that might prove popular, this is the first design of a child's high chair, it is still work in progress as some of the proportions need improving upon, but we like the blue stain and the green washing line seat, we chose this as we wanted something washable...
The twists in the back legs came partly from steam bending but also from the natural twist in the wood.

New chair design

This chair was developed to offer more lower back support, it also looks good too (we think) the seat pattern has changed too, it is one used mainly for Rush seats, but I cannot harvest anymore Rushes until the summer, so I have made do with "Paper Rush" which looks and feels very similar to the real thing.

Chair repairs

I have just completed a repair job on some chairs for a friend, they had all suffered from glue fatigue, the backs were all loose and falling apart and one had been attacked by their Dog, so needed major surgery (chair not dog!) I replaced the Struts with Ash and then stained them to try and match.

Deer Protection

Coppice bowls need protecting, Deer are very fond of the new shoots that start to grow in the spring, it can take three times longer for the coppice to re-grow if these bowls are not protected. I like to make a stick ring from all the top branches and twigs, by the time they break down and rot they will have given the new shoots a long enough protection for them to survive the deer (hopefully!) Normally this "top" would be just burnt, so I believe that it makes a much better and more environmentally sound use.
Incidentally we also decided to leave one tree on each bowl, this will allow a light window for the new Ash saplings when it is cut down in few years time.

Coppice Ash

I have been cutting some of the Ash Coppice that I use for my chairs. It's best cut in winter then stacked ready for use throughout the coming year. they will stay "green" for at least 12 months. The ends will dry in time but these can be cut off before cleaving.


Coppice Ash does not grow as straight as single standing trees, so unfortunately there is not as much that can be used for chair making. I have just cut down six trees from three Ash coppice bowls and made two stacks of wood the first is the one that will be used to make chairs and the second is going to be used for firewood. As you can see only about a third is suitable for chair making.

The Coppice bowls can be very ancient, some locally have been dated to medieval times, they used to be cut regularly prior to the beginning of the 20th century not just for chair making but also Charcoal and firewood, they need to be cut regularly as if the trees get too big the bowl can be damaged and rot, the coppice bowls pictured have been left too long hence the damage and rots, now that they have been harvested it will give them a new lease of life and the new growth will ensure longevity.

Kitchen Spatulas

I have also been making some very useful spatulas, I am the cook of the house so when I put my mind to making a spatula I wanted to create something that would be very practical to use and these are what I came up with, they are made from Blackthorn so good looking too!