Hosted by Rural Antics & Hanwell Wine Estate
This is your chance to make your very own wonderful round or oval hedgerow willow weave basket. Our one day workshop will give you the opportunity to discover the pleasures of working with willow and create a stunning functional basket, perfect as a centre piece on your kitchen table, to hold fruit, bits and bobs or maybe dried flowers.
Enjoy a unique and satisfying experience learning to work with locally sourced willow in the beautiful surroundings of Hanwell Wine Estate. Chris, your tutor, will take you through a journey teaching you the basics of making a basket from English willow. She will share with you her years of experience and knowledge of tools and materials to use. Chris exceptional experience will guide you through, so by the end of the day you will have learnt different weaving techniques and make a lovely useful basket. On finishing your basket you are welcome to join us for some blackberry picking on the estate and put your basket to its first task.
This workshop is suitable for both complete novices and people with experience of using willow. All materials and tools are provided along with refreshments throughout the day and a two-course handmade lunch served with a glass of wine.
By the end of the day you will have made one round or oval basket to take home with you.
“The beauty of this once commonplace craft, is now an increasingly rare craft”
Outline of the day
9.50am Light refreshments and settle in
10:00am Welcome
10:15am Introduction on the history of willow
Get hands on with willow
Refreshment break with snack
Start preparation for your basket structure
12:30pm Lunch is served – 2 course homemade lunch served with a glass of local wine
Continue where you left off
Refreshment break with snack
16:00pm Home time with your wonderful basket handmade by you.
To ensure the quality of your personal experience, group size will be limited to 8.
For more information about this event or other Rural Antics workshops, contact Hanwell Wine Estate, events@ruralantics.co.uk or 01949 81393.
For frequently asked questions about our workshops visit our FAQ page – click here
Want to know what happened at our Willow Weave Workshop held in January, click here to read our blog.
Giving as a Gift?
If you would like to buy this as a gift for someone, please ensure when you place your order add in the comments box -‘gift voucher with the recipients name’. We will then email you a home-print voucher with a description of the workshop and date. Gift vouchers are fully flexible and if your recipient is not available or does not want to do this workshop we will happily move them to another date or different workshop of the same or lower price.
About Chris Baxter
Chris has an exceptional talent and skill as a basket maker. Expressing her art genes originally through Fine Art she then turned to working with willow. Tutored by Jane Jennifer in Diss on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, her teachings has come from a confirmed heritage that began over 100 years ago starting with Ronnie Woods family. A member of the Basketmakers’ Association she shares their aim “to promote the knowledge basketry, chairseating and allied crafts…”
Working locally she produces bespoke commission pieces and regularly teaches willow workshops. Working in willow that is harvested in the UK (Nottinghamshire and Somerset)
Giving as a gift?
When you order request a gift voucher in the notes and we’ll send you by email a home-print gift voucher describing the workshop. Gift vouchers are fully flexible and if your recipient isn’t available on that date or doesn’t want to do this workshop, we will happily move them to another date or different workshop (of equivalent/lower price).
Do you need a place to stay nearby?
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