Facilities, Catering, Accommodation and Travel
The main structure is a covered open-sided workshop, purpose built and equipped with eight shaving-horses, eight mini-benches and numerous chair-making tools suitable for eight students.
Powered by Wood and Food
The course facilities are set in a woodland a kilometre from the main farm buildings which are the nearest source of mains electricity. After many years of deliberation, we finally installed a small solar panel to enable us to charge batteries for cordless drills and mobile phones on site. We also make use of a chainsaw to fell trees and to process firewood for the site although if possible, we use a two-person crosscut saw to fell trees for use on the courses. Apart from these compromises to modernity plus a few oil lamps and candles at night, the whole operation is powered by wood and by food.
Central to both these energy sources is the heart of the site - the wonderful multi-purpose wood-fired burner. This provides the warmth for two chambers for drying wooden components for chairmaking. Just as importantly it has three hotplates which provide a constant source of heat for cooking and boiling water for hot drinks, showers and for washing-up.
The heat then goes on to run an oven in which we can roast meat and vegetables and bake fruit crumbles, cakes or even soufflés. By using one of the warming chambers for raising bread dough, we can then go on to use the oven for baking rolls, bread and pizzas. Near the burner is an open fire to power the boiler used for steam-bending but which is also used for barbeques and toasted sandwiches as well as providing warmth on chilly evenings. The eating area contains a dining table surrounded by a range of chairs, handmade in the Living Wood Workshop.
Catering
Over two decades of running these courses we have constantly witnessed the delight and satisfaction gained from creating useful wooden objects straight from the log. In the same way, we encourage course participants to make the most of our basic but effective resources to prepare their own meals. Lunches are usually simple such as bread, cheese and salads.
For evening meals, the participants often club together and take a turn in cooking their favourite recipe for the rest of the group. Those who are not keen on catering can either do their own thing or can take care of the washing up instead.
If you wish, you are welcome to bring along your own supply of food but we offer a kitty system to jointly buy the ingredients for our meals. Being a rural market town, Bromyard is well able to supply all our needs. Legges the butchers is supplied with meat mainly from their nearby organic farm, as well as an expanding range of delicatessen and other quality food. Eggs are now supplied by the neighbouring farmer, whose wife Sue, also bakes us a range of mouth-watering cakes. Groceries come either from one of the family run shops in Bromyard or from the Co-op (Bromyard contains no other chain stores).
For those who enjoy an evening drink, excellent wine, cider and beer are all produced within a few miles of Brookhouse Wood, while a wide range of beverages is available from the nearby Hop Pocket Wine Co. For most people, the convivial eating and drinking turns out to be one of the unexpected highlights of the course.
Other facilities
With such an emphasis on food, we have taken great care in creating a beautiful compost toilet. The main frame is made out of oak, from Brookhouse Wood, as are the hand-cleft shingles on the roof. The walls have been woven from willow and hazel and the window contains a fine example of Tamsin’s stained glass.
Rather than add to pollution, the contents of the toilet will be allowed to fully decompose before being used as fertiliser in the garden area to grow superb runner beans and other vegetables.
On the woodland edge is a simple shower enclosed within a woven hazel screen using water heated either on the wood-stove or by heat from the sun. There is also a separate wash area with a washbasin and running water from the farm’s borehole.
Dogs
Course participants are requested not to bring dogs with them while attending the course. If this causes great problems, please phone us to discuss the situation.
Accommodation
Some course participants live locally or stay with friends nearby and drive or cycle in each day. However, in order to make the most of the woodland experience, the majority of our customers tend to camp on site. The camping pitches are scattered among a number of glades just inside the southern edge of the woodland with stunning views over the secluded Frome Valley (£3 per person/night).
For those who wish to sleep on site without having to bring their own tent, there is a spacious bell-tent or a bender, each with a double mattress @ £6 per person per night (£10 for two sharing) and two cosy wooden cabins with sleeping platforms and mattresses @ £9 per person per night (£15 for two sharing). Small camper-vans (up to transit van size) can be parked up near the workshop @ £2 per person/night but contact us if you wish to bring a larger vehicle.
Touring caravans are advised to stay at The Boyce Caravan Park, about 3 miles away, which also has holiday cottages.
For more conventional accommodation there is a wide selection of pubs and B and B in the area but we recommend four in particular:
The Majors Arms, near our cottage about four miles from the woodland workshop, www.themajorsarms.co.uk tel: +44 (0)1531 641780. It is a traditional country pub run by a young local couple who offer a special price to customers on our courses.
Warren Farm, situated overlooking the National Trust site at Brockhampton about three miles from the woodland workshop. www.warrenfarms.co.uk, tel: +44 (0)1885 482409
Hidelow House at Acton Beauchamp, about five miles from the woodland workshop, www.hidleowhouse.co.uk tel: +44 (0)1886 884547
Linton Brook Farm at Bringsty, an old farmhouse about three miles from the woodland workshop, www.lintonbrookfarm.com tel: +44 (0)1885 488875.
Travel
Brookhouse Wood is situated on the southern edge of Brookhouse Farm, Avenbury, about two miles south of the market town of Bromyard in east Herefordshire. It is about 15 miles west of the City of Worcester which has good links via the M5 to the motorway system. Although Bromyard has no rail connections, it is well served by a bus service that runs every two hours between Worcester and Hereford, both of which are well served by national rail and bus services. From Bromyard, the farm can be reached by a healthy two-mile walk along the valley or by a short taxi ride.
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