Forest Club

Lesnes Abbey Forest Club is a group that usually meets Thursdays at 10:00 am in The Clearing but to avoid disappointment check on Instagram before making a journey and to find out what is planned for the day.

Consisting different ages, experiences and backgrounds the group aims to provide a comfortable and relaxed introduction to the world of woodland and other traditional craft skills. No prior experience is needed and there is a small but growing selection of tools to allow anyone to have a go at these ancient and therapeutic crafts.

Tasks are flexible and dependent on whose around, weather conditions and seasonal requirements, though at some point in the year you’ll learn to turn your hand to every aspect from selecting and felling a tree safely to processing and moving the timber, rough roughing it into shape through the use of hand tools and our specially built workstations. Finally you will learn to refine the rough shapes into both useable items such as kitchen / dining / flatware, toys, jewellery and artistic pieces. 

Social aspects of the group include the option to sit around a campfire and talk tea / coffee and often biscuits are provided though you’ll need to bring your own packed lunch. 

We have first-aiders and a small number of vegetable peelers for younger children to begin to develop safe handling techniques before advancing on to sharp/pointed tools.  In the colder months on occasion we have a cooked lunch prepared in camp and cooked in cast iron on the fire.

Typical examples of tasks are felling and coppicing of timber for raw materials, laying hazel to create and ensure future resources, making wooden benches and stools, carving bowls, plates and cutlery/ utensils, small sculptures. 

In future we are looking to expand on craft experiences, this year one of the volunteers has pioneered a dye garden project which will be demonstrated at our woodland festival.