Spelk Basketry - Lorna Singleton - BS087
Lorna Singleton is a coppice worker, basket maker and green woodworker. Specialising in Spelk Basketry -
About Lorna - "I am one of the UK’s last remaining ‘swillers’, a specialist in weaving baskets using coppiced oak. From a workshop tucked away in the Cumbrian woods I weave traditional baskets known as spelk baskets, or swills. I cut and prepare the wood by hand, seeing the whole process through from the tree to the finished product, coppicing the woodland to create a truly renewable resource and improving biodiversity. I’m one of the last people still practising this ancient skill and keeping this important knowledge alive."
https://www.lornasingleton.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/lornaweavesoak
This episode is part of a trio focusing on the technique of coppicing. THey were made possible by the Bill Hogarth Memorial Apprenticeship Trust (BHMAT).
*** BHMAT are now inviting applications for our next placement and hope to interview and start the placement soon (by the end of the year/beginning of 23 hopefully). ***
Episode links
- Woodlanders Video - https://vimeo.com/223835984
- Sebastian Cox - https://www.sebastiancox.co.uk/
- Wood Water Weave - https://www.lornasingleton.co.uk/wood-water-weave
- Owen Jones - http://www.oakswills.co.uk/
- Dick Preonneke - One mans wilderness - film pt1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG3fUIoXQ5A & pt2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3NRdZ8J24Q
- Dick Proenneke - One man's wilderness book - https://www.waterstones.com/book/one-mans-wilderness-50th-anniversary-edition/richard-louis-proenneke/sam-keith/9781513261805
- BHMAT - http://www.coppiceapprentice.org.uk/
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Lorna Singleton
Spelk Basket Maker and Coppice Worker
I am one of the UK’s last remaining ‘swillers’, a specialist in weaving baskets using coppiced oak. I am a graduate of the Bill Hogarth MBE Memorial Apprenticeship Trust, three years of intensive tuition in coppice woodland management and crafts. Using simple hand tools and techniques from generations past, I create baskets based on the traditional patterns from the South Cumbrian region as well as contemporary applications of this historic practice.
In 2017 oak swill basketry was listed as a Critically Endangered Craft in the Radcliffe Redlist of Endangered Crafts and hazel basketry was newly listed as Critically Endangered in the 2021 update.
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