Dan Watson Woodland Products

Having not attended the Bodgers Ball since the mid 90’s it was fantastic to have been back. It was a brilliant few days big thanks to all those that made it happen. Lovely to catch up with old friends and new and see some inspiring crafts on show. I did a hurdle making demo on the stand thanks for coming to take a look.

It’s hard to put into words how special it feels to spend a long weekend at , but our hearts are full and its been amazing to spend time around the chopping block, lathe and fire with friends old and new!
A massive thank you for the warmth and generosity of everyone who contributed to it being such a wonderful time, but especially .whittaker and who organise this event every year, dusting the frost of the wood crafts event calendar! What a way to start the season.
Big love too to the kitchen team who organise the best wholesome food .silverbirch .singe and all of the gang
Looking forward to seeing loads of you again, v soon at for more craft and fun. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

What a pleasure it’s been for us to spend time with the wonderful Jan-Harm and Pine at their beautiful woodland cottage. Such warmth and generosity 🥰.
Highlights include the great food 🧀 cycling 🚴‍♀️, windmills, campfire 🔥, tulips 🌷, museums, boat building ⛵️, and smoked eels🐍!
Naturally, Dan and Jan-Harm, enjoyed carving together and JH shared some words of wisdom for his style of cup-carving 🪓.
A joyful and enriching week in the Nederlands with the best hosts 🙏🙏🙏. We can’t wait to return the favour when they come to teach Nordic-style spoon carving at in July 😊

Our Introduction to Coppicing and Coppice Products course 2026.
Geoff Norton (Yorkshire Hurdles) and I () warmly welcomed a lovely bunch of people to Ellekers Wood to learn some of the traditional skills and techniques associated with coppicing.
We started by gathering the raw materials, grading out rods for different materials and then making hurdles on the final day.
Spring is in the air and the have arrived - they love the habitat in our coppice.
Thanks to everyone for making it a great weekend!

A day spent dressing out birch from the coppice and processing it into hedging stakes and binders. The birch has been cut to allow more light for our planted hazel to grow.

A commission from last year, This larch framed and oak pegged covered deck is the ideal place to sit and enjoy the garden.

The start of my next project, a marker post for a school in Kirklees. This is a few hours work condensed into 30 seconds!
Similar to some I carved about a year ago ,this post, rough sawn from oak, will have a design carved into all four surfaces, inspired by children’s designs. There are also two other pieces from carved oak which are part of this commission.
I will share a few more pictures or progress in the coming weeks.