Must See Woodworking Sights in the UK?

Is it Liverpool Nova Scotia Canada

-- --<<<<<< I will not stop until I get it right. >>>>>>--

There is maybe some good Antique & Collectors Fairs on locally, http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3239 or try this link.
or jump on the dublin boat and check out some places in ireland.
I would recommend wales woodfest.
Haven’t seen it myself, but sounds good!
good luck

-- I cut it twice & it was still too short

Or Liverpool near Sydney Australia.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

This would be the grand daddy of all Liverpools :) Liverpool, England.

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

Sorry Damian, you did say the UK. My old eyes missed that one.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Damian, here are my first thoughts….

Oxford, 170 miles away isn’t really in the “general area” in our terms, but ‘Art in Action’ (17 to 20 July) may be worth the trip. It’s not just woodwork, but the website tells us: “This year at Art in Action more than 400 artists, designer-makers, craftsmen and women, musicians, performers, teachers and lecturers come together over four days to stage the most exciting arts event in Europe of its kind in Europe.”

About the same distance from Liverpool is Westonbirt in Gloucestershire, where The Festival of The Tree takes place from Monday 18 to Monday 25 August 10am – 4pm: “A week of exciting events and activities that celebrates the wonderful world of trees and their uses. Giant Tree Sculpture event ‘Sculptree’ throughout the week. From Friday 22nd to Monday 25th a craft event ‘Exhibitree’ (over 150 exhibitors) with demonstrations and lots of hand crafted artisan products to buy including jewellery, bonsai trees, furniture and food.”

Only 100 miles away is Osgathorpe, where David Stanley will be holding their international tool auction on 30 September. Maybe too late for you. However, here are the results of their last sale

Getting closer, Kilburn, near Thirsk, Yorkshire is 90 miles away. It’s the workshop and visitor centre of Robert ‘mouseman’ Thompson .

Also centred on Thirsk is the Thirsk Furniture Trail comprising eleven workshops in beautiful countryside. “The area is rich in cabinet making skills and has a wealth of furniture making companies with workshops and showrooms for all to see and enjoy.
These companies use many hardwoods to make an enormous range of furniture, made to the specific requirements of their customers.
People come from all over Britain to have their furniture designed and made by their favourite craftsmen in the wood and style that they have chosen. Every maker is committed to producing furniture of exceptional quality and many visitors spend an interesting and enjoyable time visiting the different workshops and showrooms on the trail.”

I hope that helps. If I think of anything else, I’ll post it.

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems

Oh and yes, nearby Chester is a must. ”The Rows” are probably the most often photographed sight in Chester, a series of half-timbered buildings joined with long galleries, looking for all the world like a Tudor shopping mall. There is not one single “Rows” but several complexes of houses in the same style, with the best examples on Watergate, Eastgate and Bridge Street. The layout of the Rows go back to the 13th century.

This website tells of the cathedral : ”The quire originally built by Edward I’s architect may be much altered, but the wooden quire stalls date from the 13th century. The stalls are a treasure-house of Baltic oak carved into misericords, canopies and benches. The ends of the benches are all worked into different figures, and close inspection of the richly waxed surfaces reveal faces, hounds, biblical representations, angels, dragons and an elephant carrying a castle. The craftsman who created this piece obviously listened to descriptions of the exotic beast and then blended it with the largest creature he could imagine—for the Chester elephant rejoices in horse’s legs and hooves! Even the floor tiles of the quire are filled with faces. and don’t forget the gilded angels on the ceiling encouraging the choristers with their own heavenly chorus. Time slips by here. The more you look. the more you find.”

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems

Hay Martin, next thing I want on my wish list is LumberJock vaction packages!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Thanks so much Stewart, great suggestions all round! I’ve been to Chester a number of times, never with a woodworkers eye though :) The Thirsk furniture trail sounds great as well, now just have to convince the Mrs :)

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

Keep me informed if you do Damian & we could meet maybe up around there.

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems

Did you make it over here Damian? Where did you get to?

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems

Hi Stewart, I did make it over yes, had a wonderful time but didn’t really get to see anything woodworky. I’ve been to Chester a number of times though and the Rows are amazing. That being said I did pick up a couple of old wooden planes that my grandfather, who was a shipwright, owned, which was great; they need a bit of tlc but I fully intend to put them back to good use.

With two kids five and two the trip was much more about petting zoos and fairgrounds this time around :)

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso