Green Woodworking Week in the Lakes

Last week, Sat 20th to the 27th, I was learning to make a timber frame shed out of green wood. The project was a National Trust working holiday and was run by their rangers at the High Wray Base-camp, which is one of the first bunkhouses to be built by the National Trust. It was a fun week where I learnt to fell a tree and hew a beam from it, and how to design, build and assemble the timber frame. The weather was mostly good, being clear, hot and, unusually dry for most of the week, for the Lake District.

There is a particularly inspiring panorama from the base camp over-looking Windermere, Wansfell Pike, Ambleside, Fairfield, Loughrigg Fell (behind which are Rydal and Grasmere), Langdale and the Langdale Pikes. Last Wednesday, I did a pencil sketch of the view, in the afternoon of my day off.

This watercolour came from the drawing, a week later.

The working holiday was very good and the volunteers and rangers were all very nice. The group stayed in the Acland block, the same bunkhouse that I stayed in when I went hedge-laying last November.

This was a very enjoyable week doing a very interesting activity in a very beautiful setting.