10% online discount extended
Simply add xm10 at checkout and any online order you place will be discounted by 10%. Valid until Sunday 23rd November.
Happy November one and all!
Clarence Mews Annual Open Studios
It’s that time of year again folks! When Clarence Mews opens its door for the last weekend in November – workshops and studios to nose around, makers to meet and products to buy!
And it’s a particularly special one this year as Cressida Bell (our neighbour, and one of the founders of this annual event) is celebrating her 30th anniversary open studios!
You can read more about her impressive career here
British Red Cross Pop Up Shop
On until the 17th November 2014, the Red Cross has opened a pop-up in the heart of Covent Garden – nestled among the donated stock from fashion and high street brands is one of our London Plane Serving Boards. Please see their site for more info.
the winners are in!
Congratulations to Anne M. and Cecilia T!
They are the lucky winners of a Size 1 London Plane Serving Board and an Elm Serving Board!
Thanks to everyone who signed up to our newsletter to take part – and remember, if you haven’t already done so, it’s not too late – offers and events info coming very soon!
win an Elm Board
We have a fine example of the dark, rich and chunky EL1 up for grabs – made from a towering Elm that once stood in Perthshire.
To be in the hat, simply sign up to our newsletter before 5pm on Monday 10th November….
One lucky winner will be picked at random, and contacted via email on the morning of Tuesday 11th November.
Good luck one and all!
Win a serving board!
To be in with a chance, sign up to our newsletter before 5pm on Monday 3rd November and you’ll be in the hat!
Up for grabs is a particularly beautiful example of our London Plane Serving Boards, size 1.
Winners will be announced (and contacted via email) on Tuesday morning, 4th November.
Good luck one and all!
from the archives, pt. 2 – Patterns
The Autumnal Archiving continues, folks – below is a collection of patterns that have emerged over the last couple of years. Hope you enjoy!
from the archives
Does anyone else feel a little nostalgic at this time of year? The falling of leaves and watery light, time to don scarves and have old friends over for hearty meals…..a beautiful time of year!
Well, we’ve been feeling that way of late, and have felt compelled to put up some images from the archives – we hope you enjoy them……
hackney makers monthly – autumn / winter dates
The poster below details dates for the next 3 Hackney Makers Monthly.
This coming Sunday the 19th October, the yard is back in business with makers to meet, studios to peruse and lovely pieces to buy and commission!
It’s the third event so far, so come on down and see what it’s all about – and support Hackney’s emerging designer market!
makers monthly – on clarence mews
This Sunday the 10th August sees the first Makers Monthly event, on Clarence Mews E5.
We’re opening up our yard in Hackney Central – we’ll be open to the public for shopping, coffee, music and food!
Held every month from now on, you’ll be able to have a look around the collection of bustling workshops and creative spaces that sit together at 18-20 Clarence Mews – there are several small creative brands based here, ranging from wooden homewares to fashion and furniture, from leatherwork to picture framing.
Just a five minute walk from Hackney Central and ten minutes from Chatsworth Road, come down and see what’s happening at one of the creative centres of Hackney’s designer/maker industry.
The gates will be open from 11-6, and we hope to see you there!
See where it is here.
showroom now open
The doors are open, we’re proud to announce we now have a showroom!
Our old workshop has been transformed into a place where people can pop down for a cup of tea, a place to buy directly from us and also a place for us to escape the dust and noise of the main workshop!
Alongside our regular range of boards and products, there will be one-offs and bespoke pieces, as well as products made by other local craftsmen and women including a leather worker and ceramicist.
We’ll also be on hand to discuss any bespoke projects – whether boards, spoons or hanging racks for a cafe or restaurant, or a more personal gift – just come along with your ideas and we’ll see what we can come up with.
Our “by appointment only” showroom is open whenever we’re around the workshop/yard; generally 9 till 5 Monday to Friday – the best thing to do is drop us line if you’d like to come down and give us an excuse to put the kettle on!
Find us here
tales from the wild wood
Rob Penn, lover of bikes and woodlands (you may have seen his cycling and woodland shows on the BBC) approached us recently with some pieces of a beautiful Ash tree that he’d felled in his woods by the Welsh border. If you’ve seen his BBC4 series Tales from the Wild Wood, you may remember him felling a couple of large Ash trees, then attempting to find a use and suitable home for the hardwood they had yielded.
Rob had told us he was writing a book that details all of the practical uses and benefits that a tree such as the ash can yield (working title of Touch Wood – the story of the ash tree, it is out in 2015, published by Penguin) – and he proposed that we make some boards and spoons. Being big fans of wood – and Sascha also of bikes – we immediately loved the idea.
In the spring, Sascha went down to pay him a visit and pick up the timber; have a chat, enjoy the peace and quiet, and discuss trees and bikes.
He came back with some rough pieces of ash and we set about the transformation. Such a lovely timber to work with, ash has a certain creaminess to it; a steady and regular grain, its also surprisingly hard.
We managed to yield 7 boards and 5 spoons from these pieces – as with our usual approach to board-making, almost nothing was wasted; the boards took on varied shapes to maximise the material we had.
Once rough cut, the shaping and sanding begins – after many hours we ended up with these gleaming beauties!
We’ve been inspired to work more with this favourite of British hardwoods – a future Hampson Woods Ash range? You never know!
If you’d like to know more about Rob and what he does, please look him up on Twitter (he tweets avidly!) or see more of him here;
http://www.robpenn.net/
A Note on Woodland Management
In Tales from the Wild Wood, once the ash was down, Rob brought an artistic turner, a commercial turner and a furniture maker out to have a look. Of those three, all were happy to take some off his hands – yet on a regular basis the commercial turner imported from abroad, and it was only the smaller-scale artisans who always bought British. The commercial turner just couldn’t afford to.
Sadly, woodland management in this country has been long ignored, and it is only lately that we are starting to plant and manage properly again. As a result, much of the timber used in this country is imported from europe and beyond, its provenance often unknown; sometimes its environmental certification dubious.
When sourcing timbers, we’ve found English Oak, for example, hard to find and often twice the price – we are almost always offered french oak, much more readily available. The difference in size between countries plays a big part, so too the clear-felling of the UK’s forest during WW1; but it is largely due to France’s consistent management of their hardwood forests, an old and patient approach that we sadly let slip – and which takes several generations to re-instate.
Thankfully there are people like Rob bringing this to our attention, and there are woodland managers all over the country doing justice to the beautiful hardwoods we have out there for our use. If the momentum continues, the future of British woodland could well be looking brighter!