Woodcarver

GAZET TE

British Woodcarvers Association

ISSN 1753-3651

Issue 09

Autumn 2008

It was the 2008 AGM and Conference time once more and my journey took me clockwise round the M25
past Heathrow and left on to the A41 to Hemel Hempstead.
How long would it take? Inevitably I
got it wrong and arrived at the Astley
Cooper School 30 minutes early, but
no matter, the Hertfordshire Region
members were putting the finishing
touches to the exhibitions and hot
water was bubbling in the tea urn!
What is, in my experience, the traditional warm welcome from the host
Region was again in evidence.
The programme for the weekend
comprised the AGM itself; three
master classes and a Sunday morning talk, interlaced throughout with
what in modern parlance seems to be
called socialising; to us older citizens
this is a spot of gossiping, information
giving and gathering, etc.
The morning master class I attended
was the first of two sessions offered
by Peter Benson on carving wooden
clocks, or more precisely the wooden
case into which a clock movement
could be fitted. Our choice was a
kingfisher or a mushroom/toadstool. I chose the bird and was soon
at work with the other participants, a
good time was had by all and a lot of
useful progress was made. I have but
one problem, Peter, if you are reading
this; I suspect that I will be getting a
lot of pressure from family members
who will shortly develop a passionate
interest in clocks with carved wooden
faces!
Lunch time brought our class to a
conclusion and we were soon tucking
in to a splendid buffet lunch organised
by the Herts Region.
After lunch, we assembled for the
AGM. Probably the items to do with
the Gazette were of most interest to
members. . Firstly there was the confirmation by Russell Parry that he was
not standing for re-election as Gazette
editor. This was primarily for family
reasons and there was profound regret
that he had to make this decision, but
there was also a great deal of appreciation for the considerable effort he had
put in during his tenure of office in

developing the format of the Gazette

to its present very popular colour version. It was reported that there had
been no nominations put forward for
his replacement, but, thankfully, Phil
Deacon has nobly volunteered at
least I think he has volunteered (!) to
act as interim minder. I sincerely hope
that members will give Phil plenty of
support particularly by submitting
items for the Gazette.

Above
Stan Kimms winning Elephant Tealight,
for the AGM competition

Below
Bob Ferriss Tealight submission to the
AGM competition

Page 2
Left, Right and Below Bob
Ferriss Tealights for the
AGM

Of at least equal significance was

the news that the cost of producing
the Gazette was currently exceeding
its budget and that action was needed
to correct that. The cause was not
the move to colour printing, as I had
expected. Russell said that the difference in cost was relatively small and
was in fact likely to get even smaller
over time. The main reason is the cost
of distribution with the new large
envelope postage rates introduced
last year. Options for cost reduction
have been explored and one possibility was to use a smaller format, but
Russell counselled against that as the
cost reduction would again not be
sufficient and could have a negative
effect on its appearance and popular-

ity. There was even a suggestion from

the floor (I plead guilty!) about bulk
postage to regional organisers but that
was thought to produce more problems
than it would solve! It was further suggested that in due course members
on the internet may be asked if they
would take their copy via email.

increase following on the increase last

year and it was reluctantly agreed by
members that the number of issues
to be published annually should be
reduced from four to three for the time
being so that costs can be contained at
an acceptable level.

I still have, somewhere in the attic,

3 carvings crumbling quietly into
soap powder. Incidentally, am I mistaken in thinking that the soap carving idea has been mooted before? Is
this something that could rejuvenate
regional involvement with young
people interested in carving? (Since
the AGM I have spent a couple of
days at the National Memorial Arboretum and have seen the soap carving in
action. The kids seemed to be enjoying
the experience hugely and perhaps this
is, indeed, the way forward in encouraging younger people to develop an
interest in woodcarving?)

On another topic I was interested in the proposal to offer

short taster carving sessions
for school children at the BWA
Exhibition at the National
Memorial Arboretum in June.
Apparently the children would
be carving soap, not wood, and
Left and below
A.Robinsons
Tealights for the
AGM

The Treasurer, David Gerty, advised

against any thought of a subscription
Below Jean Westons Tealight for
the AGM
therefore not using sharp and potentially dangerous tools. This interested
me greatly because in my early working life in a sub-standard office building, we were issued with our own bar
of soap (believe it or not!) each month.
I fear that I rarely used mine for its
original purpose, finding it far more
enjoyable to carve during lunch times.

Above Jean Bitmeads Tealight

for the AGM

After the AGM we dispersed to our

next event. I had opted out of Maureen
Hockleys photography master class
or was it technically a mistress class?
and was booked on Dick Onians
master class on wood. He certainly
is a master of that particular subject
and had many samples to illustrate his
talk. Notwithstanding the fact that the
audience itself was knowledgeable it
was surprising how many times one
Below Derek Titchners Tealight for
the AGM

Page 3
Below Bill Patons Tealight for the
AGM

thought I never knew that/ thought

of it like that My only regret is not
having made any notes of his talk for
future reference.
That evening I joined 8 or 10 other
members in a local pub for dinner and
continued with, yes youve guessed it,
socialising!
Sunday brought the talk by Ralph
Hental on wooden spoons. What an
eye opener that was! In common I
suspect with most of the audience, I
thought that wooden spoons were

Above Peter Follets Tealight for the

AGM
design, but many more were
copies of originals in museums etc where he had been
given permission to copy
the design and style.

Right Malcolm
Dyes Tealight
for the AGM

There isnt really space

to do justice to the subject but perhaps the following photographs will
give a flavour of the subject. If you get a chance to
see or hear Ralph on his pet
subject, make sure you dont
miss it. Even if spoons are not
your thing, you should find it
extremely interesting.

Below Maurice
Harpers
Tealight for the AGM

coming north the morning before.

Finally can I once again urge members
who have not taken the opportunity to
attend one of these AGM weekends to
resolve to give it a try next year. There
was more than a hint that it could be in
South Wales.

Finally, there was one more

excellent buffet lunch and it was
time to say farewell and return
home. The journey was just as
quick going south as it had been
almost exclusively a Welsh carving
tradition, but no, Ralph demonstrated
with his extensive knowledge of the
subject and a comprehensive collection of carvings of all shapes and sizes
that wooden spoon carving was a universal tradition being found over the
ages and throughout the world. Ralph
explained that he had become hooked
on love spoons in 1950 and had dedicated his spare time to researching
and preserving the craft. Many of
his examples were of course his own

John Pryke

All photographs by
Maureen Hockley

Below Maureen Hockleys Tealights for the AGM

Presents

Following the success of their April (Spring) WOODEX event, Meridienne Exhibitions
are building on the events popularity by presenting a further FREE ENTRY exhibition in
October

Right
Martin
H o w e l l s
Tealight for the

The NEW Midlands Woodworking and Woodturning Exhibition

Winter Woodex 08

AGM

Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th October 2008

Warwickshire Exhibition Centre, Leamington Spa.

from
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B
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BWA Website: http://www.bwa-woodcarving.fsnet.co.uk
C o uGazette
n c i hiccups!
l . . . f r o m t h e B WA
National Council ...from the
As announced in the last Gazette, Editor Russell
Parry stood down at AGM 2008. Unfortunately there
were no nominations to take up the post. This being
the case Philip Deacon kindly agreed to caretake as
Editor (note change of contact details below).

It has taken a little while to organise software and

while the next proper issue is expected early in
2009 this mini-Gazette was intended to keep members informed. The intention is to resume regular
issues three times a year as described in the AGM
report. Thanks for your patience!

Gazette CONTACT ADDRESS please send items for publication to:

Philip Deacon, 4 William Road, Cuxton, Rochester, Kent.
Tel: 01634 290042
E-mail: philip@thedeacons.net

National Council

Copy Deadline for the Early 2009 issue:

submit to editor by 31 December 2008

Region

Leader/contact

Telephone

E-mail address

Bedworth & Nuneaton

Berkshire & Mid-Thames
Devon and Cornwall
Dumfries & Galloway
Durham & North Yorkshire
Essex
Gloucestershire
Hampshire
Hertfordshire
Jersey
Kent
Lancashire
Leicestershire
N. Lincs & E. Yorkshire
N.E. London & W. Essex
S.E. London & W Kent
North Staffordshire
Norfolk & Suffolk
North Wales Borders
Notts & Derby
Oxfordshire & Bucks
Rockingham Forest
Scottish Borders
Shropshire
Solway Woodcarvers
South Wales
Warwickshire
West Midlands
Yorkshire
USA

Alan Edwards
Bill Mander
Dave Cox
Barbara Blaze-Gosden
David Shires
Jean Weston
Bryan Corbin
Allan Mechen
Stan Kimm
Peter Ward
Malcolm Dye
Sarah Lawrenson
David Hewes
O H Boyd
David Keen
Michael Cuomo
Tom Buttress
Harold Bailey
Eileen Walker
Gary Cooper
Brian Eastoe
Graham Biggs
Andrew White
Alan Whitfield
Clive Firth
Derek Edwards
David Pledge
Tony Newton
Wilf Hansom
Rupert Stangroom

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BWA National Council Members

Chairman
Peter Benson
National Secretary John Sullivan



Treasurer
David Gerty
Editor
Philip Deacon
Membership
Philip Amos
Regional Liaison Bridie Tonge
Publicity
Maureen Hockley
Co-opted (CHIPS) Philip Deacon

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