Country Living's The Balvenie Artisan of the Year winner 2009

Woodworker Robin Wood has breathed new life into a rural tradition and is protecting the world of crafts even further by inspiring others to follow suit

It takes talent and tenaciousness in equal measure to resurrect a lost country craft. Fortunately, Robin Wood could draw on abundant reserves of these qualities when he took the life-changing decision to revive the skill of turning wooden bowls on a traditional footpowered lathe.

 

The practice had come to an end in 1958 with the death of the celebrated bowl-turner George Lailey, whose wooden vessels had even graced the shelves of Harrods. "I was working in woodland management for The National Trust and was looking at ways of using coppiced timber," Robin explains. "On a visit to the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading, near Lailey's old workshop, I saw his original lathe, his tools and a number of unfinished bowls. I felt that part of our country heritage had been lost for ever and desperately wanted to bring the craft back to life." A passionate believer in sustainable practices, Robin was also impressed with the way Lailey had used one block of wood to make a nest of five bowls, each one turned from the remnant of the last to minimise wastage.

 

Without a craftsman to learn from, however, he faced an enormous challenge. First, he had to teach himself simple blacksmithing techniques to forge the large turning tools used to gouge out the timber. Then he set about constructing a large wooden lathe from old fencing posts inside his workshop, a converted stone stable in Edale on the edge of the Pennine Way.

 

Learning how to operate the lathe required persistence and perseverance. "It was very much trial and error," Robin remembers. "It took me about five years to perfect the skill, but in 1995 I decided to try and turn my hobby into a business."

 

Today, he is the consummate craftsman, producing a wonderful range of everyday tableware alongside medieval drinking bowls and cups - each piece a careful fusion of beauty and utility. "Like the old turners, I don't use sandpaper but rely entirely on the sharpness of the tools to achieve a good finish," he explains. "Bowls made this way have a very distinctive, textured character, with the marks of the tools clearly visible, a little like hand-thrown pottery or blown glass."

 

Robin uses only English hardwoods and most of it is sourced as locally as possible: "To understand how to work the timber properly I need to know where the tree has come from and the conditions it grew in." The wood is left to season in the log for six to eight months before being cut into slabs to be turned on the lathe. His study of museum pieces to help him perfect and broaden his skill has deepened his knowledge of the history of the craft, which enjoyed its heyday in the Middle Ages. Now a recognised expert and Britain's only professional pole-lathe bowl turner, he has helped archaeologists understand the turned woodware from the Mary Rose, while also producing replicas for Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London and the Globe Theatre.

 

From the outset Robin wanted to spread the word about this ancient rural skill and encourage others to have a go. He demonstrates regularly at regional fairs, but also shares his knowledge freely using modern media to reach as many people as possible. His website provides clear instructions on how the bowls and plates are turned, while he has also made YouTube videos of himself in action, set up internet forums and a craftsman's blog: "I'm not in a position to take on an apprentice but the internet is a great way of communicating with young people."

 

As well as bowl-turning, Robin also hand-carves wooden spoons and builds oak footbridges, winning the CPRE's countryside design award in 2005 and 2008. "I'm interested in a wide range of artisan crafts - they're part of our living heritage and we need to look after them," he says. This is why he set up The Heritage Crafts Association, which identifies endangered crafts and encourages people to learn them before it is too late. All the time spent on this project is voluntary, inspired by his clearly evident concern for, and commitment to, the world of crafts. A worthy winner indeed.

Robin Wood 01433 670321; www.robin-wood.co.uk; www.heritagecrafts.org.uk

Click here to watch Robin's videos on YouTube

 

The Artisan of the Year runner-up

Andrew Hoare (01799 531248) "A specialist builder who is preserving
the unique flintwork buildings of East Anglia," David Stewart said. "He mastered a difficult technique through hard work and is passing on this regional skill to an apprentice and one of his sons." 

 

Meet all of the other winners

Read more about the competition and its awards

Artisan Apprentice of the Year: Samantha Peacock, stonemason

Artisan Mentor of the Year: Bob Oakes, blacksmith

Best Start-up Business based on a Traditional Craft or Skill: Ryan Kearley, boat builder

 

 

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