Page 62 • The HERALD • 22nd June 2023 v GROW YOUR BUSINESS WITH THE HERALD v ✿ DOWN THE GARDEN PATH ✿ SPADEWORK Family Landscaping & Fencing Team ] Decking & Natural Sandstone Paving ] Patios ] Driveways ] Block Paving ] Turfing ] All Types of Domestic & Commercial Fencing ] Security Fencing Supplied & Fitted Tel: (023) 8089 4909 Mobile: 07703 566814 u Free Estimates u Fully Insured All Aspects of Garden Work Undertaken • Driveways • Paving • Artificial Grass • Turfing • Decking • Fencing • Hedge Cutting • Landscaping Hythe Garden Contractors Family company established 1977 For a free quotation please call 023 8084 3556 or 023 8084 0378 Smithwood Landscaping Professional Gardening & Landscaping • Garden Redesign • Astro Turf • Trees & Shrubs Carefully Pruned • Rockeries Designed • Fencing • Ground Cover • Seasonal Tidy Ups No Job Too Small as I am a Local Gardener Any advice over the phone is freely given Contact Gary (Master Landscaper) 07707 433194 INSULATED GARDEN ROOMS From ONLY £5,000 Ring John to arrange a site visit & advice 07526 699 040 01590 678 495 Johnmaunsell48@gmail.com Blackfield Gardening Club Meeting by Patricia Hedley-Goddard, Secretary to Blackfield Gardening Club On Tuesday 9th May the Black eld Gardening Club held their penultimate meeting in the Good Shepherd Church, Holbury. e speaker was Mr. Mike Tuck from the Ringwood Wood Carvers Club. He brought with him a large selection of walking but when it is chosen, it is best to carve it when it is ‘Green’ (wet). In our area, hazel wood was most commonly used as it grows well in this area. Mike commenced with explaining how wood was selected and showed an example of the rst piece beginners would be trained to do. e starting piece is a carving of a leaf on the piece of wood, carved in ‘high relief ’, which shows the leaf ‘sitting’ on the original block of wood, detailed with all its veins and markings. From there the ‘student’ progresses to carving a single block of which is like a thick stick, into a ‘higgledy piggledy’ series of houses one on top of the other. ere are no plans for this carving and the student has to make it up as they go along while ensuring that there is access from one dwelling to the other by a series of stairs descending/ascending from each building so the whole height of the building can be accessed from top to bottom. is is HAND carving, and no machining is allowed. A er that the student is then allowed to choose their own subject, and many people choose to carve birds or animals. However, Mike tends not to carve normal subjects, and showed a selection of his incredible carvings. He showed us a ‘ at hat’ which he had made to t his own head. He had painted the top ‘cloth’ area green and le the peak brown. Great fun was had by club members who tried it on. He had also brought along a wooden boot, complete with laces and the ridged sole had studs in it. is was carved from a single piece of wood, and he said that all the hollowing out of the inside of the shoe had been done by hand. Next, he showed a truly beautiful dragon which had jewelled red eyes. Again, the main body and the stand were all one piece of wood, but the wings, chain and padlock with key which was carved, again, from one piece of wood, and then he showed us his current ‘prize possession that he had just nished carving. is amusing and complicated piece of carving from one block of wood shows an open ‘plastic’ food box of the type used by burger bars, with a burger, chips, sauce, ‘plastic’ knife and fork on it. is is painted in all the appropriate colours - very ingenious. His current work in progress depicts a ‘full English breakfast’, and he said the baked beans falling o the piece of toast are becoming a real challenge. e Ringwood Carving club members, together, made a momento for Ringwood which is on permanent display. It consists of 9 at pieces of wood which make up a square of 3 pieces wide by 3 pieces high. Each square depicts a di erent scene in Ringwood. ese are carved in ‘high relief ’. Mike then went on to ‘stick making’ which can vary from a very simple piece of naturally grown wood with a v shape at the top, called a thumb stick, to highly sophisticated and ornate sticks. Various shape sticks can be made by just using the natural curvature of the wood, but o en the wood needs to be ‘straightened’ a little. is is done by heating the wood and placing it in a straightening device. Mike showed us all shapes and sizes of stick from shepherd’s crooks to dog whistle sticks. ese sticks are made from two pieces of wood, one the handle and whistle, and then the bend, o en ornately decorated, joined by a wooden peg internally, with a spacer glued in round the join. Some sticks have a metal ferrule on their ends for protection, but as these are inclined to slip on some surfaces, the rubber ferrule is far more popular. e handles on walking sticks can be very ornate, incorporating Ram’s horn or Bu alo horn, silver or ornately carved wood. e more complicated the handle, the more expensive it will be. One stick Mike showed was a 5 long stick from one piece of wood. e handle was carved as a cobra’s head, and round the main stick where honeysuckle had entwined itself, the honeysuckle had been carved into the form of another snake. Question time at the end of the presentation was lively! Meeting held on the second Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm at the Good Shepherd Church in Holbury. sticks of various size and complexity, plus models he had carved from wood which were truly amazing and very di erent to what one would have expected. According to where you live in Britain, the wood used in the stick making world will di er, especially for shepherd’s crooks and ordinary walking sticks. Limewood, chestnut, hazel and holly are popular choices. Oak is not used very o en which were so delicately carved, were a di erent type and colour of wood. Each scale on the dragon’s skin was clearly marked and coloured. It is a beautiful show piece. Another incredible piece he had carved was a life size working model of an engineer’s vice, all from one piece of wood. He also showed us a large
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