Heritage Craft Skills
As a rural and resource rich area the Forest would have once had thriving cottage industries in crafts such as tanning, blacksmithing and wood working.
Through this project we wanted to help preserve and revitalise these crafts at a time when the skills and knowledge are in danger of being lost.
What has the project delivered?
Managed by The Rewild Project, a variety of highly skilled and experienced instructors to led workshops in specific heritage craft skills. Teaching and inspiring people about traditional crafts in four main subject areas:
Organic skills workshops - traditional tanning, blacksmithing
In this short film, Scott of The Rewild Project, explains the art of tanning:
Textile skills workshops - including spinning, willow weaving, dyeing and felting
Lin explains the art of willow weaving in this short film:
Green wood working skills workshops
In this short film, Jon explains pole lathing:
Going forward The Rewild Project hope to create a community of crafters in the Forest, reviving old skills and building empowered people and more resilient communities.
What can I get involved in?
Supported by other funding sources, The Rewild Project plan to continue running a series of workshops each year, published on their Workshops web page.