Be careful what you wish for…

So it's been a while since our last blog post, and here at Team Whitethorn it's been very busy, with a whole load of change.

 It is nearly 12 weeks since we arrived at our new home on Drumnaph Farm which is beautifully situated in the middle of a Nature Reserve in the north of Ireland. In some ways it seems completely crazy that we are here after finding out we have been selected for a position we had applied for only a few months before. In most ways though, we feel at home and settled (allowing for the occasional wobble) already which is incredible.
Our home for the past ten years had been Devon in the South of England and having moved there from Bath not knowing a soul, we found work  in a great little café called Poppy and Stig’s Place just down from the Castle in Totnes. It was a ‘locals’ place, hidden down a side street serving the best coffee and playing the best music. It was from here that we slowly made friends; tentatively inviting friendly folk to join us for a drink until we had friends for life.
Our two children, Rowan our daughter age 6 and Oisín our son aged 4 were both born in Devon. By then we had gravitated to Dartmoor and rented a beautiful farmhouse in Holne. Rowan was so nearly born in the house but Oisín was born at home, by that time, a tiny converted goat shed with ‘one up,one down’ where we lived for three years.
After leaving the café (serving coffee was never really his thing), Glenn trained as a traditional oak timber framer for Carpenter Oak and was nearing the end of his 4th year with them. He had moved into the realm of the office and worked at many of their shows and events. This was great work but we both felt that Glenn being away from home 7am-6pm every day as well as two weekends a month was not the life we had imagined and it was so important that he had more flexibility to be truly part of Rowan and Oisín’s early years.
As well as a timber framer, Glenn had also trained as a Bushcraft Instructor, Furniture Maker, Woodsman, Craftsman amongst many other things.  He is one of those generally annoying people who can remember everything they are told and then have the ability to impart that knowledge to others in a clear understandable way,basically the polar opposite to me! I’m not going to sell myself short here, it’s easy to do that when your other half can spout a fountain of knowledge most days (I don’t listen to him anyway!) but I would say I am the ‘people person’. I like people, mostly, and I like being out there talking and getting to know people, something not as easy for Glenn..hah! So, anyway, we felt that with our combined skills to tap into, now would be the time to make a go of self employment. Yes, with two small children, both very sleep deprived and with no magic beans in the bank to help us on our way.
To cut this very long story short, we stuck at it for four years ricocheting from feast to famine on a monthly (sometimes daily) basis. Self employment is bloody hard for most, but we always, always kept the faith, even through some really shitty times. We questioned over and over again whether to jack it all in and get a ‘proper job’ but several things kept us going. One: we didn’t want to pay someone else to look after our children. Two: we wanted to work together towards something that we could be proud of, long term. Three: we believed in ourselves and what potentially lay ahead. Four: we didn’t want for much and just enough to not be worrying all the time would be grand thanks very much.
Our furniture business, Whitethorn Woodcraft has grown slowly over the years and we are proud of what we have achieved but this was only part of the dream.
In October 2012 I took a trip to Ireland with the children to visit family and this changed our lives. In a little stone, thatched cottage one evening, my Dad asked what it was that we wanted, what was the dream? I explained that we would love a house with some land where we could run courses, make stuff, sell stuff, keep some animals, open a campsite, maybe a bit of B&B and generally do all the things that make us happy.
The next morning I popped up to see Niall, my mum’s cousin and his wife Siobhan. Niall is part of Carntogher Community Association, a charity working really hard to regenerate the Irish language and heritage of the area. Niall told me about a farm the association had just purchased with a view to running courses and craft workshops, selling handmade products, keeping heritage/rare breed livestock, opening a campsite, maybe a bit of B&B…….and they needed someone to live in the farmhouse and manage the farm and Nature Reserve. I went to my Aunts house and called Glenn….  

So, here we are on a huge adventure. The children are in a Bunscoil (Irish Medium Primary School) learning in Irish now alongside their cousins. Glenn and myself  have lessons every week and we are heading to an Irish Language Family course in Donegal next month.  The Irish language is so important here and we had none at all so we have committed to a programme of learning. Eventually all the courses and activities offered at the farm will be bi-lingual and the local area is a recognised and growing Gaeltacht (Irish speaking region) so without Irish we wouldn’t be able to continue.
We love it here, the farm is beautiful and has 360 degree views of mountains. The community allotments are up and running. There are Gypsy Cob ponies in the field (always loved them) and we are here to do what we love in a fantastic community who have already given so much support since we arrived. I only wish that we didn’t have to leave our friends behind, they are like family and I cried so much saying goodbye. Still, now they have somewhere to visit and stay. For the first time we have space and visitors no longer have to sleep on the floor!
I will post all our stories and exploits on here, we hope you will enjoy reading.

My walk to work.

After several beautiful morning walks to the workshop I thought that I'd (rather smugly) share some images of my journey each morning.

Thistle the dog patiently waiting (as if) to start out journey.

The view of Haytor from the top of our lane.

 Walking along the trail know as Church Path through a small but lovely mature Beech woods.

 This is the entrance to the old iron mine.

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 Perfect winter camouflage

 Haytor now in the distance

My welcoming and incredibly untidy workshop.

I love my walk to work, even when it's not such nice weather. It takes me about 45 minute at a nice leisurely pace, and sometimes double that depending on what we see on the way. It gives me just the right amount of mental distance to switch from 'home' head to 'work' head, and switch back again.

So that's my daily commute. I feel very lucky.

Welsh Backstools, Our Three Legged Chairs.

So, it's been a while since our last post and a lot has been happening. The summer has been busy, busy, busy for us all in Casa Del Whitethorn. We've had a few double and kingsize bed orders, green oak timber frame buildings, and a couple of shows where we were exhibiting and demonstrating. The weather didn't really help too much for this last activity. The normally great Weston Arboretum Treefest was a bit of a wash out this year sadly. Those visitor that did brave the weather were all very interested and friendly. Although I have to so most of the interest on our stand was focused towards Thistle, our new puppy, who wooed everyone by falling asleep beneath the shaving horse or by chewing the oak pegs I had carefully crafted only seconds earlier. It was good to catch up with Jon Mac and Sean Hellman, two very good and lovely craftsmen.

We have also had a bit of a run on some of our Welsh Backstools. I love these chairs, they have a simplistic beauty to them. I started making these several years ago after seeing a couple of examples in a book on traditional furniture and have had a love affair with them ever since.

Traditionally the backstool was a simple step up from the common stool. Either a 3 legged or 4 legged stool with a simple back rest added. With the 3 legged version, the back rest was sometimes an extension of the rear leg. These would either be a vertical board back rest or a spindle and combe like the example above. Sometimes the back rests would curve round to form arm rests.

I love the 3 legged variety. At shows and exhibitions it often takes people a while to twig that there are only 3 legs. The obvious benefit for the 3 legged backstool is it's stability on uneven surfaces. No wobbling for these beauties. They are also perfect for curing people of the habit of leaning back on chairs, potentially for good.

People often ask why only 1 leg at the rear. I have never seen an old museum or antique example any different. The back is always the single leg. I'd love to know if anyone has seen differently. In making a variety of different styles I've come to the conclusion that by having the pair of legs at the front, you increase the stability of the chair when getting on and off.

So is it a stool or a chair? 
Dictionary definition of a stool is 'a seat without a back or arms, typically resting on three or four legs or on a single pedestal.'
And a chair:  'a separate seat for one person, typically with a back and four legs.'

So perhaps the Backstool  does inhabit that grey area between the two. Historically speaking the term chair only seems to be applied to seating with backs and arms, until the late 18th century when backstools become classified as 'single' or 'side' chairs.

And why Welsh? 
All of the historical examples I have been lucky enough to see have all thought to have originated in Wales. Without doubt this design would have been used through the UK.

The backstools you can see in the pictures (4 in total) were in fact all destined for a lovely couple from the Brecon Beacons, to go in there 300 year old Welsh cottage with a very uneven Welsh slate floor.

But maybe the next batch should be re-labeled Dartmoor Backstools. 

Wild at Heart

Devon Life Article

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"Not all those who wander are lost" Tolkein

I had all the intentions of getting up early this morning and tackling the vast amount of curved Oak laid out in the workshop, but as I climbed out of bed my creaking, sore and seized up limbs dispelled any work ethic I had. "Age!" I hear you cry. Well hopefully not.  I've just spent a lovely couple of days out walking on the moors on my lonesome.
Every now and then the desperate urge to escape to wild places grabs me. I use it as a way to mentally re-boot my system. Turn myself off and on again. What I love is the simplicity. It's just me, my kit (could have been a bit lighter) and the elements. All I have to concern myself with is which direction to travel.
Travelling on my own gives me the chance to think about the things I need to think about. I'm definitely one for putting distractions in my way, whether its watching something, getting a book fix, or researching to the Nth degree whatever new fad I've discovered. Walking by myself strips away those shields and forces me to face the issues and work my way through them.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a deep walking meditation. I was far from the Kwai Chang Caine archetype. Half the time my thoughts were on such issues as "Why won't my lungs take in more oxygen?" or "Why are my buttocks chaffing?" or "It doesn't say there's a bloody wall here on the map!" But these time are just as good (maybe not the buttocks) as they are the times when I'm just here in the moment, the times when I'm just travelling. Just me doing what animals have always done, moving through the landscape, finding water, looking for a good place to sleep. Although I'm on my own, doing this kind of trip makes me feel like I part of something bigger than myself. On my own but not alone.
I slept to the sound of owls and the River Bovey, awoke with the sun and the dawn chorus, breakfasted with jackdaws and a couple of Roe Deer, then wandered to wherever the mood took me.
I had planned to stay out a second night but was enjoying the feeling of walking so much that I covered the distance in half the time I had intended whilst still fitting in the sights. Hence this mornings lack of movement.

However, it'll be a fresh start tomorrow. First job is to clean up all the Oak curves. These are going to become a new bed once the client chooses which curves she'd like. I'll post pictures as we go.

gx

Here goes...

A hundred thousand welcomes to our blog space. We are oh so very new to the whole 'blog' thing so please bare with us whilst we blunder along getting the hang of it.

In this space we will share our newest creations and talk you through the process of their coming into being. We will also keep you up to date with exhibitions, shows and fairs that we are taking part in.

It is fair to say that it is quite likely that we will ramble on a fair bit about the things we get up to here on the beautiful wilds of Dartmoor and  indeed, anything else that tickles our fancy.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. We hope you enjoy...

Kelley and Glenn