1 Glenn and Kelley

run their company

Whitethorn Woodcraft

from their home on a

Nature Reserve in

Northern Ireland

2 Glenn hopes to run

courses in making Irish

hedge chairs, which take

their form from curves

found in hedgerow trees

3 As this roll of chisels

testifies, their methods

are traditional, too

4 Glenn uses a

blowtorch to blacken

a larch bedframe

playing in the new forest sparked my love of trees Much of my childhood was spent semi-feral in the woods. It was from there that my need to be outdoors grew. It wasn’t until adulthood however that I discovered my own creativity. I left an academic path to find something I could do with my hands, and started dabbling in traditional woodland crafts.

Beautiful timber should never go for fi rewood – I can’t bear to see it wasted. I was able to re-use pieces of wood in buildings when I trained as a traditional timber frame carpenter with a company called Carpenter Oak based in Devon. I have never followed a career, but taken every opportunity I could to learn a new skill.

Wood’s natural quirks are there to be embraced My wife Kelley and I like the awkward grains, knots, splits and cracks because for us these highlight the natural beauty of the original tree. We think they are a beautiful distraction from the homogeny of mass production. A lot of today’s furniture seems so far removed from the woodland where the timber grew, it lacks character and sadly much of it isn’t made to last. The way we work is very much rooted in the past using traditional tools and practices. Whitethorn Woodcraft is myself and Kelley with a bit of occasional help from our seven and five year olds. I make the bigger pieces such as the furniture and Kelley does the finishing and makes the smaller home accessories.

timber can talk We allow the wood to ‘speak’, to dictate how it should be used, rather than forcing a design onto it. This gives our furniture a truly organic, flowing elegance. A good illustration of form working together with function is the simple wooden spoon: it is very much a utilitarian object, but with the grace and sweep of the tree it came from.

you can barter your skills as currency When we were starting out, finances were tight, so we traded on skills instead. Friends built our website in return for a pergola. I would work a day for Carpenter Oak and get paid in wood! I had to leave my job for the business as it was taking so long to make anything just at the weekends. At the time, I was also working as a bushcraft instructor, so first we figured that I could continue with that and make furniture during the week. Then we decided to take the plunge just after our second child was born. I was away a lot and we both felt that there had to be another way while our children were young.

realising some dreams requires a leap of faith The dream had always been to live in the country with some land; running courses, growing veggies and promoting handmade crafts. In Autumn 2012, Kelley visited her family in Northern Ireland and learned of a local project looking for applicants interested in working with a community association to protect and develop a rare Nature Reserve in the area. The land had a farm on it and the association wanted someone to move into the farmhouse, run the farm, introduce courses and events, and manage the wider reserve. We applied and after being accepted, we moved here last year. The area

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B e yo n d t h e n I n e -to - f I V e

ROOTED IN ORIGINALITY

glenn white turns wood

into one-oFF pieces crAFted

to suit the indiViduAl grAin.

here’s whAt his pAssion

hAs tAught hiM

Words: daVIna rungasaMy

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2

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where we live is a growing Irish-speaking community, so we have started learning Irish too.

In true Irish custom, you never know who will come

to the door It’s always busy. I am currently making benches and signs to be placed throughout the reserve. We also run conservation courses, including dry-stone walling, hedge-laying and coppicing.

We can learn from Irish hedge chairs I love making them. These simple country chairs traditionally relied on the natural curves and shapes found in hedgerow trees. Ireland is hugely deforested so this meant that carpenters had to be inventive and thrifty in their timber choices, a sentiment I think is very relevant today. I am hoping to run courses for people to learn how to make them.

My simple thing is watching the spiral of wood appear when using a newly sharpened chisel. Kelley has a few more than me: walking on new snow, movies and hot chocolate with the children by the fire, a full pint of Guinness, and a swim in the sea. Find out more at http://drumnaphfarm.wordpress.com and http://whitethornwoodcraft.blogspot.com

L e a r n s o M e t h I n g n e W

Fly fishingA 60-second insight into A new personAl chAllenge

By LIsa sykes

the pIcture In your head is possibly something like the fishing scenes in A River Runs Through It, all backlit, with Brad Pitt in waders…

… where was I. Oh yes, the reality. Well it’s not far off actually. A scenic chalk stream in Britain is an idyllic spot indeed and just the place for a spot of fly fishing (as opposed to coarse fishing – for the uninitiated this refers to fish such as perch, pike and carp rather than trout or salmon, which are game fish caught using flies). You’ll quickly discover that you can spend a lifetime still learning, but why not, when the trout are tantalizingly plain to see in the clear, flowing water, seemingly waiting to take the bait? In this case, the bait is a fly – an intricate hand-tied labour of love – and is, quite simply, a work of art.

It’s entirely possible to learn the basics in a pleasant afternoon on the riverbank. A patient tutor (or ghillie) is what’s required so luckily Orvis, the sport’s tackle and wardrobe keepers, run courses specifically for women if you prefer and this summer (until October) are offering free two-hour fly-fishing sessions at their UK riverside stores (www.orvis.co.uk/learntoflyfish). Expect to learn basic knots, rigging up a rod and casting techniques. Think like a metronome with a final flick (or flourish if you are looking for style points) to send the line reeling out that little bit further into the flow. They are also making free with info on fishing opportunities in your area. And you get a book of discount vouchers.

We can’t promise Mr Pitt but at least you’ll be able to tell your very own ‘the one that got away’ stories.

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49Subscribe at www.thesimplethings.com

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LIVING | LIfe skILLs

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