07 Aug 2015
Expect some riveting tales from the wagon trains of the Wild West when wheelwright Phill Gregson returns to give a masterclass at the National Forest Wood Fair, on Bank Holiday Monday 31 August.
Phill was absent from the event at Beacon Hill Country Park last year, as he was on a six-week study tour of the United States, looking at materials and production methods used by wheelwrights in America.
His journey began in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia and ended at the North West Carriage Museum, Washington State, covering 6,000 miles and 16 states.
He saw wagons from the early settlers in the 1700s, part of a wheel from one of General Custer's wagons and visited the childhood home of Laura Ingalls Wilder (author of Little House on the Prairie). Her family settled in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the late 1800s when the prairie was still a wild place: “They would have carried everything they owned on a horse drawn wagon, and then put this to use as a work or farm wagon once they had settled,” explained Phill.
He continued: “One of the most technically advanced workshops I visited was in an Amish community in Ohio. Far from being stuck in the past, because they use horse drawn vehicles every day of their lives, as part of their chosen way of life, they need to develop techniques and tools that work for them now. It was fascinating.
“My trip was funded by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and the Worshipful Company of Wheelwrights so that I could look at the history and techniques of how people have developed the wooden wheel in the United States. I also wanted to investigate potential alternative timbers to those I use here in the UK. Many of our trees are threatened by various diseases and I want to make sure the work of the wheelwright will continue.
“I learned so much on the trip and it certainly opened my eyes to how differently we view time here and in the US. The history of settlement there is so short; I have tools in my workshop that I use regularly that are older than items I saw on display in museums there.
“The trip was totally inspirational for my work as a wheelwright, and it's made me even keener to work to promote what we have in the UK, all our history and heritage, and to pass on all that I learned to others.”
Phill will be giving a masterclass and demonstrating his work at the National Forest Wood Fair at Beacon Hill Country Park on Bank Holiday Monday 31 August.
See more at www.nationalforestwoodfair.co.uk Book in advance (before midday Friday 28 August) and save 20% on gate prices.
The National Forest Wood Fair is organised by the National Forest Company in partnership with Leicestershire County Council and is sponsored by Vitax.
Ends
Media interviews:
Phill Gregson is based in North West of England and is available for interview by phone. He will be on site at Beacon Hill Country Park on Sunday afternoon 30 August.
Contact Carol Rowntree Jones on 01283 551211 / mob: 07870 568628.
email: crowntreejones@nationalforest.org
For more information on The National Forest see www.nationalforest.org
Digital images are available. Contact media@nationalforest.org
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The National Forest area covers 200 square miles of the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Its objective is to increase woodland cover within its boundaries from an initial six per cent to about a third. No multi-purpose forest on this scale has been created in the UK for one thousand years. To date the proportion of woodland cover in the Forest has more than trebled to reach 20 per cent. In 2012 HRH the Duke of Cambridge planted the eight millionth tree in the Forest.
- Year by year, The National Forest has been steadily turning what was once one of the least wooded areas of England into a multi-purpose, sustainable forest. The National Forest provides environmental, social and economic benefits, including landscape enhancement, creation of new wildlife habitats and major new access and leisure opportunities. It is an excellent example of sustainable development – with environmental improvement providing a stimulus both to economic regeneration and to community pride and activity.
- To achieve these objectives, the National Forest Company leads the creation of The National Forest, working in partnership with landowners, local authorities, private business, voluntary organisations and local communities and has strong support from Government, politicians and the public. The Company receives grant in aid from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
- The National Forest Company's Triennial Review by Central Government in 2013 stated: “Many [stakeholders] stressed the need for the continued role of the NFC to maintain momentum and ensure that the long term aims for The National Forest are achieved. The importance of a 'truly sustainable landscape scale project' was stressed, with the need for continued objectives across a wide agenda including economic growth, woodland culture and habitat networks.”
- In 2008, the National Forest Company and partners won the inaugural Sustainable Development UK Award, for their work in Ashby Woulds, at the heart of The National Forest.
