School memorial bench

Carved in remembrance of a forest school teacher at a local school, and sited at the entrance to their woods.

Moving with the times

This is my first post in a long while so time for a catch up.
I have moved from the cosy barn at the composting site to a temporary yard with the National Trust.
Being right on the coast has given me the opportunity to forage the flotsam and jetsam washed ashore. These characters emerged from some hefty driftwood logs and stumps from last weeks beach combing.
The strong winds today may bring new finds next week!

Carve Carrbridge this Saturday

Heading up to Scotland tomorrow in readiness for the chainsaw carving event at Carrbridge on Saturday. Well worth a look, there's some great carvers competing and if you fancy taking away one of the finished pieces bring your cheque book :) Maybe I'll see some of you there.
http://www.carvecarrbridge.com/

Unique Tree House

Finished this the other day, it's up for sale as is but if you would like a quote for one with attachments such as slide or swing sets then please get in touch through my website or facebook, thanks for looking, Simon

Recent works

It's been a while since my last post, so here's some photo's of what I've been up to lately.

More news on the woodpecker

Sadly the woodpecker had to be abandoned due to an unavoidable section of rot. The log will be re-worked so that the woodpecker hole can still be viewed. This will be displayed adjacent to the new woodpecker that was carved yesterday from another pine log.
Hopefully this will be planted vertically in its new home soon.

Dog Tired!

Working on site again at National Trust Formby. This time  relief carving two dogs for their doggy watering stations.
Lots of interest from locals and day trippers alike, including the four legged variety.

Started the woodpecker

After a slow start, stopping to help put out a campfire in the woods, I put in a couple of hours roughing out the woodpecker.
You can see  the woodpecker hole in the first picture under the branch junction.
Weather was great and had lots of interest from passing visitors.
Hope to finish the carving tomorrow at the main yard.

Carving at National Trust Formby this week

Weather permitting I will be carving in the woods this week at the  squirrel reserve. Starting with a woodpecker over at the new adventure play area.
If you are in the area then feel free to pop over for a chat.

tree house maquette

A very rough 15 min carve to work out some ideas for an interesting job coming up in May.

Little barn owl pendant

Did this one last week and am pleased to hear it has landed safely in Australia.

Wolf and bear pendants

A couple of pendants whittled in between jobs. Both carved from an old piece of cherry, the wolf has some lovely purple flaming running through it.

Milling with the National Trust

Spent the other morning at Freshfield National Trust Reserve helping one of the wardens make the components for a couple of balance beams and a large bench out of a recently felled mature pine.
You just can't beat working in the woods on a sunny day!