Northern Bowl Gathering 2026 Pt2

Concluding part of a 2 part special recorded in april 2026. Adam makes more field recordings, chatting to attendees about their experience of the event. At the end John chats to host and chief organiser, Matt Whittaker about the location and origins of the event.

Transcript

SPEAKER_10 0:00

Hello and welcome to part two of the Northern Bowl special episode of Tunes and Spoons. I I hope you enjoyed listening to the first part. I really enjoyed going around talking to people and having more in-depth conversations with them about Northern Bowl and what the the you know, I have a found it and uh I hope it really came across, you know, what what it means for them. Uh I think it did and um yeah, it was it was really nice having the these chats with these people and uh finding out a little bit more what Northern Bowl means to them. And uh I hope it it summarized it well for you and uh yeah, uh I hope it made you want to come along next year. I have I have a feeling people might be uh fighting over tickets for next year if they listen to this. So uh in this part I'll be interviewing a few more people who were at uh Northern Bowl this year. And it was uh some some uh interviews to listen out for. I had a nice chat with Shannon, who as John mentioned, uh first came to Northern Bowl with the uh bursary scheme. She um yeah, she goes into some depth into why she pursued the bursary scheme route and what doing the bursary, like what what that entail and she knew and and now she's uh goes on to where the uh bursary uh took her. And another chat I had which is good to listen to, is Rosanna because she goes to Norm Bowl to volunteer and she tells me a little bit about volunteering uh entails and uh Yeah from from the person whose uh it all came from. And uh Yeah, it's uh Yeah. Anyway. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed going around and talking to people, and uh yeah. I'll see you in the next one. Right, we're going. Right, let me get my questions. We're in business.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_10 3:01

What's your name and where are you from?

SPEAKER_00 3:03

My name is Rosanna and I live in North Wales.

SPEAKER_10 3:07

Excellent. So what are you doing this weekend? Are you doing a course, chilling out? What's the plan?

SPEAKER_00 3:12

I am volunteering. This is my fifth year volunteering at Northern Bowl.

SPEAKER_10 3:17

And what does that entail?

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Uh it entails this weekend, it mostly entails doing gate duty, but it also involves looking after the shop and running water up and down the hill and making sure the toilets have got sawdust and blue paper and just keeping the keeping the the cogs oiled. Nice.

SPEAKER_10 3:37

What's it like volunteering here?

SPEAKER_00 3:39

It's great, it's so good, it's my favourite thing the whole year, basically. Like, I just I always keep this weekend free and sacred for Northern Bowl because it's just a place I can't be anywhere else on this weekend.

SPEAKER_10 3:52

Excellent. So I was gonna say, have you been to Northern Bowl and how many before?

SPEAKER_00 3:56

But well, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 3:57

Been before a fight. So, what initially made you come to Northern Bowl?

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Uh I was just getting into craft. Um, and I just looked up like, where can you go and learn how to turn bowls? Could I because I'd literally just learned that turning bowls was a thing that existed and thought that's really cool. And uh yeah, I was a student at the time. Um I was on my placement year, um, and I yeah, just looked up found Northern Bowl online and saw that they ran a bursary thing and emailed them and said, I'm I'm completely new to this. I've never done it before. Um and um yeah, I got uh got a bursary place, which is really what started me off in craft entirely, and and um yeah, got to do two bowl turning courses that weekend and I volunteered that weekend as well. Um so got reduced price places on the courses, and yeah, who did I do? I turned bowls with Aidy and uh no Aid, sorry, and Amy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um and yeah, I just had such a wonderful time and was like, oh yeah, this is this is what I want to do.

SPEAKER_10 5:21

So what other crafts here or green woodworking do you do?

SPEAKER_00 5:27

Uh my main thing now is basketry. Right. Um probably mainly willow, but I've also done basketry and lots of other forms of basketry and weaving as well. I think weaving is my main love. Uh, but I also still love making a spoon or a little carved thing. Uh plans to make my own bowl lathe are still in the are still brewing, but once I get there, I'm sure that will be my fixation for a while as well.

SPEAKER_10 5:58

Nice. So, how has your experience of Northern Bowl been? How you found it?

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Oh, I mean, I'm sure I'm not the only person to say it, but it's like it's just so hard to put into words.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Everybody comes here and feels it. You know, it's like it's like this massive, wonderful, eccentric, extended, nerdy family.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

And it's just like such a joke, especially in April when everybody's like emerging from their winter cocoons and seeing each other for the first time. Oh I'm gonna I'm welling up a little bit actually. It's just it's just magic. It's just magic. It's so like life-affirming and inspiring and beautiful, and I always just come away feeling so uplifted, and yeah, it's a real, it's such such a special thing.

SPEAKER_10 6:51

So if you could summarize Northern Bowl in a sentence, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Oh my goodness, you're not going easier. I don't know, it's the risk of hyperbole, it's just like where the hell else would you be in the world in a late April weekend than here?

SPEAKER_10 7:15

Fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Well, thank you very much.

SPEAKER_10 7:19

Super. Okay. Alright, we're live. Please do not swear. Right, hello. What's your name and where you're from? My name's Dan Watson, and we live near Leeds and we work at Ellica's Wood. Well, nice little bit of promo there for Ellicker's Wood, of course. What is Ellica's Wood? I'm I'm curious. Ellica's Wood is about a 20-acre ancient woodland that's been planted with softwoods, and we're managing it to try and turn it back over to more broadleaves. We've got some hazel coppice, we've got some nice oak standards. Um, so that's the management side of things, and we also run um craft courses there through some of the year. What kind of craft? So we we've got a whole variety of things. We kicked off this um this spring, well, late sort of mid um mid-March with a coppicing course. Um, so we looked at at coppicing and also made a hurdle and some other hazel products, and then going through the season, we've got chair making, we've got spoon carving, bowl carving, cup carving, lots of basketry courses. Um so yeah, it's all happening. Nice. All right. So, what are you doing this weekend? Are you doing a course or what? Um, no, I'm not doing a course. I'm just here because I don't get a lot of time for carving with the other things that I do. So I'm here to carve. I'm carving a bowl. Um and I'm not turning because uh I haven't got the time to do it enough to to um to to to to retain the the skills. Oh nice. Is that some wood that you've found here? This is or being supplied here for that. Well, this is a bit of beach off the wood pile. Um I believe Matty failed it in about October. So it's um obviously beach is pretty hard wood, it's good for turning, you get a nice finish. Um, but after it's mellowed a bit, it's quite good for carving too. Uh have you been to Northern Bowl before and how many? I think I've been to all the Northern Bowls except for the first one. Right. I don't know how many there's been. Do you know? No. No, maybe we should find out. I reckon there might have been eight or nine. Something like that. Something like that. I'm sure someone will correct me. Yeah. So what made you come to Northern Bowl? Um, I just like hanging out with other craft people and seeing all the inspirational work that's going on, and all the people who come here are just such a lovely crowd. And um it's just it and it's the start of the the show season, it's like you've been let out after winter. It's brilliant. It's a good way to start the year, the craft year, isn't it? Absolutely. Yeah. So well, you've already alluded to it, but do you do any green woodworking or any other crafts being represented here at Northern Bowl? Do I do any of them? I have turned before, um, but like I said, not often enough to to develop my skills. Um, I do all sorts of greenwood crafts. Yeah. Um so I used to be a hurdle maker and a charcoal burner. Um now we've got hazel coming on at the woods. I might well start up with hurdles again. I'm planning to do a hurdle making demo at the Bodgers. So I've got some hazel to take along. Um so I'm gonna do that there. Quite looking forward to that. Are you gonna take along that picture of you making a hurdle in front of the king? I might not. I might not do that. I might not. Um uh he was quite keen to to have a look at my bill hook, actually, when when I was demonstrating. A bit like I've had enough of you talking, peasant. How about you? Uh yeah, exactly. Well, no, I think he is actually genuine, he is the patron of the hedge lane society. Right, okay. Um, so I think he does have an interest in these old crafts. Yeah, all right. So, yeah, how have we found Northern Bowl and like you know, like the experience, you know? Oh, it's just brilliant. Yeah, yeah. Um, don't know what else to say. Um I'm down every year. As long as I can make it, I'll be here. If you could summarize Northern Bowl in a sentence, what would that be? Just a happy, inclusive, sharing, crafty place. Um in a lovely place where some really nice people are kind of yeah, making it all happen. Famous, mate.

SPEAKER_07 12:06

Alright, we've got a million subscribers, all that, don't you? Don't be nervous, don't be nervous.

SPEAKER_10 12:11

Right, we're live. So all this is is I've got some questions, and I want you to summarise Northern Bowl for me. So, first question is what's your name and where you're from? Uh my name's James, and I live in Middleothian in Scotland. Excellent. And what are you doing this weekend? Are you doing a course, for example, or are you just chilling out?

SPEAKER_08 12:33

I'm doing a course today, turning a plate with Ally on the on the on the bowl lathe. Yeah. Oh, it's Allie. I just met him.

SPEAKER_10 12:43

Allie is there. Yeah. And uh what what what what made you decide to do a bowl turning a plate turning course with Allie?

SPEAKER_08 12:51

Er well I've I've had to go at a few bowls and I wanted just to get a bit of uh expertise and input and also try out a different shape, so I thought Excellent. Uh that was the right one for me. Nice.

SPEAKER_10 13:03

And have you been to Northern Bow Bowl before? I haven't, it's the first time. Oh what so uh well we've already been over this, I suppose, but do you do green woodworking or any other like crafts that might have brought you here?

SPEAKER_08 13:16

Yeah, so I I like basketry and also uh getting more into the bowls on the lathe uh in the last sort of few months, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 13:25

Yeah, and I suppose it is uh is that what made you come to Northern Bowl because you've not been before?

SPEAKER_08 13:30

What what made you decide this is a one for word of mouth, everyone was singing its praises and no end, so I thought yeah. It's also kind of uh even though it's Northern Bowl, it's uh it's a it's Southern Bowl in a way because Right.

SPEAKER_10 13:46

And this this is a bit of a pointless question because Northern Bowl has literally it's not even begun yet really, but how have you found Northern Bowl so far?

SPEAKER_08 13:54

Friendly. I mean I arrived very late last night and was uh within minutes was offered homebrewed mead and um uh homebrewed cider and a nice big warm bonfire and uh so yeah, very warm welcome and sunny morning.

SPEAKER_10 14:10

So yeah, if you're gonna summarize Northern Bowl, it's uh homebrew mead, is it?

SPEAKER_08 14:18

Well so far, I mean it's not there wasn't any turning at midnight last night, unfortunately. But if I had been I might have uh jumped on.

SPEAKER_10 14:25

Right, super. Right, but that that's it. Little two minutes of questions. So thank you. There we are. Right, Sam. Hello.

SPEAKER_05 14:34

What's your name and where are you from? Uh I'm Ali originally I'm Iranian, but I live in Stephen Hidden. What an upgrade, Stephen Hud.

SPEAKER_10 14:45

Sorry, I'm being alright.

SPEAKER_05 14:49

Are you recording?

SPEAKER_10 14:49

Yeah, we're gonna have to bleep that out.

SPEAKER_05 14:53

Anyway, yeah, tell me what question you're gonna ask first, then I get re I get ready. No, oh I think you know your name.

SPEAKER_10 14:59

I don't think you need preparation for that. Right. What are you doing this weekend? Are you doing a courses or are you just chilling out? What what were you doing?

SPEAKER_05 15:09

I'm here in Northern Bowl.

SPEAKER_10 15:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 15:11

I'm doing teaching uh two days uh play turning. Alright, yeah. I did the first day, it was really good. Yeah, and I'm gonna do the second day tomorrow. How are you found teaching that then? Fantastic, I love it. Good people, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 15:26

Yeah, like people grasping it, it's slightly in my head, plates are quite complex.

SPEAKER_05 15:30

Yeah, it is. I had mixed people today, a couple of them were really advanced, yeah, and two beginners, but yeah, they didn't everyone's gone home with a plate then. Nice good size, about 10 inch, nine inch this plate. Yeah, nice, super.

SPEAKER_10 15:44

So have you been to Northern Bowl before and how many?

SPEAKER_05 15:48

Uh I think this is my fourth time. Yeah. Right. Nice. I enjoyed it. What made you come to Northern Bowl in the first place? It's uh I don't know how the first time I think because I knew Matty. Right, okay. And I came. But uh because it's nice and cozy, not too big, and the food is great, the company is great. Yeah, I really love it.

SPEAKER_10 16:12

So do you do green woodworking or any of the crafts which are here this weekend, like the willow weaving or or too many to name really?

SPEAKER_05 16:21

No, not this weekend, no, I'm teaching, I'm too tired to do it.

SPEAKER_10 16:24

Well, just in general, do you do it? Well, I do.

SPEAKER_05 16:26

I last time I did with Villow, yeah, broom making. Yeah. Uh oh, I did hook with Matty last last year. Yeah? Yeah, yeah. So, uh, how's your experience with Northern Bowl been? It's great. I love every minute, honestly. So far, I have nothing back. Yeah, it's five hours drive. Yeah, that's what I'm doing, really, because I really like it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 16:53

All right, excellent. So if you had summarized Northern Bowl in a sentence, what would it be?

SPEAKER_05 16:59

I would say good, crafty people. I know it's a small you know get-togethering, but it's lots going on. Yeah. And the same time, if the weather is nice like today, it's an amazing view. Nice people, and great food. Usually we get really good food and nice pudding and all that. Yeah, excellent.

SPEAKER_10 17:21

Well, well, thank you very much. I think your English has been perfect and nice. Thank you very much. So, yes, thank you very much, Holly. Alright, cheers. Hello, what's your name and where are you from? Uh, my name's Mike Craig and I'm from West Yorkshire. Oh, hi, big up Wex West Yorkshire. What are you doing this weekend? Like, are you doing a course, chilling out? What's the plan?

SPEAKER_02 17:42

I I'm usually teaching, but I'm not teaching at Northern Bowl. So this is just a um catching up with people, having a bit of a calve and uh and a bit of a tunes as well, some music.

SPEAKER_10 17:52

Oh yeah, I'm looking forward to that. Have you got any new ones for this evening? I think so, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

Yeah. Um, my partner Alice and I have been working on some such a thing together, which is a first. So um the same. How did you persuade her to do that? Um it wasn't that difficult. I mean, she she sings, she she comes from a classical background, and I call from a folk background. Right, you're doing some like opera rent tonight. No, no, no. But uh we're trying to find a place to meet in the middle. So she likes traditional tunes and stuff. So if we I'd really like to see you trying some like vibrato, like yeah, I'm not sure. Yeah, I'm definitely a um self-taught. My my singing is definitely self-taught next.

SPEAKER_10 18:32

Yeah, yeah. Alright, so have you been to Northern Bowl before and how many times? I have.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

Um, I don't know how many times. I've been at least three or four. I don't know how many there's been. But um I don't I've not I wasn't here at the first one, but um no one seems to have been at this first one, so I quite know when it started.

SPEAKER_10 18:50

Um I've definitely been it's just always been. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What made you come to Northern Bowl?

SPEAKER_02 18:58

I think it was kind of um it's the first one of the year. Yeah. So it's it's kind of like it doesn't tend to clash with anything. But um, I think I'd heard it was a nice, it's not too far from uh for geographically as well. And um I'd heard it's I like a small festival, yeah, and because it's a sort of like uh a relatively small festival, yeah, it it you know everyone can fit around one fire. Um it's got a it's got a nice community sort of feeling um to it, which uh so I think when I heard that it sounded and also people said it was good for music and you can sit down fire and sing.

SPEAKER_10 19:32

Yeah, yeah, it is good for that because like there's an allotted time, isn't there, for yeah, well, spoken poetry, tunes, anything, yeah. Um which you don't really get anywhere else, really.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

No, and I think it's nice because you've got um like Kirk sort of MCing that side of things, if you will, which means that he's very good at encouraging the people. Yeah, it allows people who wouldn't feel confident singing and playing in other places would feel that they they can they can do that. Uh and I think the music and the and the craft seems to go quite well hand in hand. There's quite a lot of musicians here as who are carvers as well and stuff, so yeah, um yeah, it's combination.

SPEAKER_10 20:12

So, yeah. Do you do green woodworking or any of the crafts which are here this weekend?

SPEAKER_02 20:17

Um yeah, I mean that's my main my main occupation is it is uh a green woodwork teacher. So I uh I teach spoon carving and bowl carving and courses and different green woodwork courses um in in West Yorkshire and uh and also at festivals, um, and I do a bit of coppice work and things during the winter as well. So um yeah.

SPEAKER_10 20:37

So how have you found your experience of Northern Bowl over the years?

SPEAKER_02 20:41

It's been great, it's one of those things where because it's the size that it is, yeah, it feels like a community, and um, and then one of the nice really nice things about it is that it's the first one of the season. So if you've seen people sort of like the bowl gathering tends to be the one at the end of the season, yeah, it's that time when we all get together for the first time after in the new year. Yeah, so it's it's that's really everyone's quite giddy. You see, absolutely, because and you think I haven't seen people for ages, it's because we were all at bowl gathering, yeah. Um and uh yeah, and it it there's a nice variety of stuff happening here, and it's it feels like I say it feels like a nice sort of human scale event. Yeah, um, so it feels like a little village almost.

SPEAKER_10 21:21

Yeah, it it's it's hard to miss things here, isn't it? Yes, like other events like spread over huge places, and you'll you'll be leaving it and someone say, Oh, did you meet that person or see what they were doing? They're like, I know, I didn't even know they were there. Yeah, whereas here it's just like yeah, it it it doesn't take long to go around the whole site. No, no, which is great. And there's some really good courses running as well. Um if you could summarize Northern Bowl in a sentence, what would that be?

SPEAKER_02 21:49

Um friendly, intimate, uh musical, um and uh yeah, welcoming. Nice.

SPEAKER_10 21:58

All right, well, thank you very much. Much Mike.

SPEAKER_11 22:01

Hello. What's your name and where are you from? Hi Adam. I'm um I'm Phil Bradley, uh basket maker from um Sunny Delights of West Cumbria.

SPEAKER_10 22:12

Yeah, and uh previous episode of Tunes and Spoons.

SPEAKER_11 22:15

Well not not so Welcome back. Thank you very much. Good to be back. Yeah, no, I didn't think I'd be back so soon, so uh thank you. And it's nice to talk to you as well.

SPEAKER_10 22:23

Oh yeah, nice to meet you proper too. Yeah. So uh what are you doing this week and and uh like are you doing a course, chilling out, what's a plan?

SPEAKER_11 22:30

Oh well I came I came last year, Adam, um good friends with Morris Rutherford, and they've been pestering me crazy said, Phil, Phil, you need to get along to Northern Ball. And I was saying to him, Maurice, I'm a basket maker, I've never made a bowl in my life, I'd feel a charlatan. And he said, Come, he said, you'll love it. So I did I came last year uh and I just loved it. So I've done from the moment I came in through the gate, the welcome I got. A lot of people here are newer, of course, and uh so I thought I can't miss it this year. So I've just cut come as a volunteer. I'm not particularly doing any courses or any learning or any teaching. I'm here to chill, catch up with folks. Yeah, just just just touch my lovely crafty people. And it's like heaven on earth here, isn't it? I mean abundant earth. What a joy finding this place and what they do in here. You know, it fills you up and it inspires you, and you what you take away from here kind of last two uh yeah, just conversations you've had, people you've met, beautiful things you see in this chart made by people you know and love. Yeah, what more can you take out away than that?

SPEAKER_10 23:36

You've managed to squeeze in most of my questions. I've already got you there. So my next it's alright. It was like, have you been to Northern Bowl before in how many? So yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_11 23:47

But I'll be there again next year. And if anybody's not been and maybe wondering about what it's gonna be like, get yourself here.

SPEAKER_10 23:54

Yeah, so yeah, yeah. If you were to boil it down, what what's made you come back to Northern Bowl?

SPEAKER_11 23:59

Oh, if I had to boil it down, it's it's people, you know. I think people often think it's kind of the craft, or what did you learn when you maybe I'm at a stage or I kind of do what I do, it's people and it's making this connection. I think maybe a lot of craft people work in isolation, most I certainly do. So to come together with like-minded people and be able to talk about multi things for three or four days. Usually at home people glaze over after sessions or two when we're talking these sort of conversations, so it's great, just it's a bit self-indulgent, maybe. Just uh try to try.

SPEAKER_10 24:32

Yeah, I I I I get that at home. You're like, oh, you you're geeking out about I don't know, spoons or whatever, and everyone's like, oh, yeah, shut up.

SPEAKER_11 24:41

Let's talk about something normal. Yeah, they just turn the TV up higher, don't they? Of course, I don't know what you you maybe don't talk a lot about what you do in your usual lovely friend circle. Got it interested.

SPEAKER_10 24:53

Yeah, or or maybe they are, but they don't quite understand it, so you just gotta like dumb it down a little bit. Whereas here it's full geek out back geek out as full max.

SPEAKER_11 25:03

That's maybe what I like the best. Ah, excellent.

SPEAKER_10 25:05

So D green woodworking or any of the crafts showcased here this weekend.

SPEAKER_11 25:10

Uh well, a basket mate, but when I was here last year, I managed to sneak a place on with lovely Ali Asadi. Alright. And I had my first dibbins on a pole lathe, made a plate with Ali.

SPEAKER_10 25:23

Well, your first ever thing you turned was a plate. It was. Is that is that to me it seems ambitious, but to be honest, maybe it's not.

SPEAKER_11 25:30

It seemed flatter than a bowl or something. Yeah. But when you know nothing about something, you you don't know, do you? That's true. But he guided me through it beautifully. So I've done a bit more um greenwood turning on a power lathe using hooks since I've got okay. Yeah, yeah, so I've been mixed a couple of things up there. Nice.

SPEAKER_10 25:48

So uh again, you've sort of answered this already, but how have you found the experience of Northern Bowl?

SPEAKER_11 25:55

Uh uh exceptionally marvellous, really. That would be a bit a shorter answer to this one. It's maybe hard to put your thing. It's just a beautiful place. I mean, probably here in the background, busy people getting on with stuff, sharing skills. It's great.

SPEAKER_10 26:09

Yeah, and then if you could summarise Northern Bowl in a sentence, what would that be?

SPEAKER_11 26:16

Oh, that's that's gonna be the hardest question you've said until the end there. Ask me to say something in a short sentence. Um marvellous, creative, loving, woody loveliness. That would be excellent. That'll do.

SPEAKER_10 26:31

Well, that'd do. Right, yeah. Well, thank you very much, Phil. Right, hello. What's your name and where are you from? So my name's Paddy, and I'm from Northumberland. Excellent. What are you doing this weekend? What are you doing here? Like, are you doing courses, teaching, chilling out?

SPEAKER_09 26:50

What's your plan? I'm mainly just here to chill out and play tunes. I'm pretty um pretty rubbish with my hands, and I can't really uh oh well I it's not like it's not where my strengths lay anyway. So I'm playing loads of tunes. That's my aim. Oh a bit barky, Ben.

SPEAKER_10 27:08

Um so yeah, what what kind of tunes? What do you play?

SPEAKER_09 27:12

So I play guitar, uh, and I guess like I try, I play, I like playing banging tunes. Banging tunes. I like playing tunes with like proper groove. Um, and then I I guess play all sorts of all sorts of styles. Yeah, is is that on your own or is it with other people? So I'm playing with my band. Oh, oh really? Um later on tonight. Yeah. So my band's called Deadly Squat. Um and we're Northumberland's number one traditional Northumbrian hardcore reggae band. Although we don't play so much reggae anymore. Initially we were a reggae band, and now we just kind of steal all the global styles we like and um kind of regurgitate it through our kind of enthusiastic um system.

SPEAKER_10 28:14

It's good stuff that have you been to Northern Bowl before? And how many have you been to? So it's just my second, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 28:22

So we played last year as well, so it was a real treat. Is that why you came to Northern Bowl? Yeah, well, yeah, I guess so. Um, and just because I love the people here, nice to get camping.

SPEAKER_10 28:35

Yeah. So do you do any kind of green woodworking handcrafts, any of the things which are here?

SPEAKER_09 28:42

Uh I did like well when I was a kid, there was a guy who lived just next to Allendale, um, who he had a lathe and used to do little green woodworking days. And I had some really gorgeous times on the lathe back then. Um but haven't really done any since then. Alright, so yeah, you you can just I do um I know I I have knitted.

SPEAKER_10 29:12

Yeah, there's there's some people here knitting as well. Yeah. Yeah, there's all sorts of graphic, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 29:18

Yeah, excellent. So yeah, it just here for for your band. I forgot to to oh no, I didn't. So um yeah, what what will you play playing tonight for us?

SPEAKER_09 29:31

So we'll be playing a kind of mix, mainly, mainly tunes, mainly tunes we know, yeah, and then some tunes that we don't.

SPEAKER_10 29:42

It it would uh not be so good if you didn't or play tunes that you didn't know, but we're gonna play some tunes we don't know as well.

SPEAKER_09 29:48

So we'll be like a part of the a part of the approach is is to leave leave um to kind of move into musical space collectively and see where we got to.

SPEAKER_10 30:01

Well all right, so like uh I seem to recall last year. Oh, you you you described the music in some form of reggae, but it was was it Scar Reggae? I can't remember. So it was really good last year. It's not like anything I'd heard before, it's fantastic.

SPEAKER_09 30:21

Which we aim for euphoric uh dancing music.

SPEAKER_10 30:25

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 30:26

Psychedelic euphoric dancing music.

SPEAKER_10 30:29

Yeah, it it's uh quite a contrast to the um like uh Irish trad we were playing last night. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 30:36

Although, uh yeah, it is. I think we're getting maybe getting a little tradier.

SPEAKER_10 30:41

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_09 30:42

Uh but I don't know if we'll play the trad tunes tonight. No, no, it it's uh so how how long have you been a band? Who's in your band? So anyway, there's seven of us at the minute. Are we this this is gonna be our our 20th year? We're turning 20 in June. Um and yeah, so I guess there's a there's like a long connection. Well, our first gigs were at a festival called the Green Festival in Newcastle, which was set up by some of the people who now live on the land. So it's a kind of long like in interquining kind of connection between the band and the land.

SPEAKER_10 31:26

So yeah, and uh I I also believe uh was it you or or was it Oren? How met some people here before a few years ago at a wedding? Did we play their wedding? Yeah, it was Dan and Liz, didn't you play at their wedding?

SPEAKER_09 31:40

Or was it Orin? Oh we no, we've probably uh we've we've played a few weddings. Although not so many recently. But yeah, we played at their wedding.

SPEAKER_10 31:50

What's it like playing at a wedding? I imagine I I think I couldn't play anything. I think it'd be too nervous.

SPEAKER_09 31:56

Uh I see well we just like I don't know, if people book us, they kind of know what we're up to and we just do what we do. But we're not usually not playing any, uh we don't really play any covers apart from like a couple of folk songs.

SPEAKER_10 32:09

Oh that's nice stuff. So what what's what's the name of your band? If there is one. Oh Diddly Squat Squat, sorry, I had short-term memory. What what is the future for Diddly Squat, do you think?

SPEAKER_09 32:22

Now you're turning 20. We're just about to release um release a little EP. First music we've recorded in over 10 years. Where might that be available? Uh it's hopefully gonna be on Bandcamp pretty soon, and then it might be all over as well. But it'll be on Bandcamp first.

SPEAKER_10 32:39

Uh do you have any vinyls with you for Peter sign and handout?

SPEAKER_09 32:43

No, I think there's we heard rumour that someone there's one vinyl in existence of one tune we recorded a really long time ago that someone cut a vinyl. I haven't seen it, but uh and I've heard it exists.

SPEAKER_10 33:00

That'd be that sounds quite mythical, really. Oh no, that's fantastic. So uh yeah, I think tonight's gonna be exact if it was anything like last year. Have you got any uh surprises in store?

SPEAKER_09 33:14

Any uh Bay sisters coming this year, so that's good. He he couldn't come last year. No, so uh I'm not totally aware, but uh I try there's some the some drama to do with our drummer, but I think he is gonna make it. Um but I'm staying out of it and hoping he just arrives when he does.

SPEAKER_10 33:36

Excellent. Well, yeah, uh we're all all looking forward to it. And uh it's gonna be good fun. So what has to go back to Northern Bowl, what's your experience of Northern Bowl been?

SPEAKER_09 33:50

Yeah, Northern Bowl's been really lovely. Yeah. Um what we've been doing, yeah, just like had some lovely time around the fire last night. Yeah. Um got the kids here, they're currently they're currently fed and um and happy, so that's pretty good.

SPEAKER_10 34:07

Oh, excellent. And then if you had to summarise Northern Bowl in a sentence, what what would it do?

SPEAKER_01 34:13

I've got a payroll, I've got a payroll.

SPEAKER_09 34:16

Uh distributed the paper in the middle of the state. Northern Bowl is full of lots of people who like making things.

SPEAKER_10 34:29

Excellent. Well, thank you very much, Paddy. That was great. That's been recorded. That's hilarious. I'm not very good at this, do I? Right, okay. Hello. What's your name and where you're from? Um, wait a minute. Shall we go over there? Oh, alright. Is Kaz putting you off too much? He's he's putting me off. He's coming with you. I'm gonna kick him in the shining. Alright. We'll go into your studio, Adam. Alright, my my recording studio. We'll start again.

SPEAKER_06 35:04

Right. Just gotta find some shade over here. Yeah, that's a bit yeah, that's better. Right.

SPEAKER_10 35:13

Ah, I can't. What's your name?

SPEAKER_06 35:14

Where are you coming from?

SPEAKER_10 35:15

Yeah, Sam. Right. Hello.

SPEAKER_06 35:18

What's your name and where you come from? Uh I'm Matt from uh Woodlandcraft Supplies from Mid Wales now. Relocated last year to Mid Wales. Ah, that's exciting. Yeah. So Woodlandcraft Supplies, what's that? That is um the um Green Woodcraft tool business that I've been running for, I think, 16 or 17 years now. And before that, I was run by a chap called John Warne for 15 or so years. So it's been going been around a long time. Um so yeah, I've been uh we sort of buying uh from lots of different independent small toolmakers and sell at different shows and sell on the website, obviously, so online, um, and then come around all the lovely shows in the around the UK and sell tools to folks. Online, does that mean you have a website you might be able to tell people? You might need to plug the website, right? Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. www.woodlandcraftsupplies.co.uk.

SPEAKER_10 36:06

Excellent. So uh what are you doing this weekend? Are you doing a course or are you just slinging axes from your store?

SPEAKER_06 36:12

Pretty much the second bit, yeah. Um so normally Northern Bowl is because the first show of the year, I do it tends to be a bit of a shakedown and getting ready for the sort of show season. So I kind of and I was a little bit late this year. I normally do a few days' prep at home to get the stand ready again, but I didn't have time. So this today I've been mostly putting together, restocking the boards, uh, and made a new, just you've got a new range of basketry tools, so I made a new, lovely new board to show all those off. Um again all the prices labels on, all that sort of stuff. So yeah, just getting ready and and then lots of sitting in the sun.

SPEAKER_10 36:43

So have you been to Nelvin Bowl before, and how many have you been to? Yeah. I was thinking about that earlier. I think how many have they been?

SPEAKER_06 36:51

Do you know? Do you know what? Everyone can that. You should know that too before you. I should look this up. Yeah. I don't know. Um I think I've been to all of them except the very first one. Right. And that's a common answer I've been getting as well. Who went to the first one? Exactly. No one knows. Nadine went to the first one. All right, there we go. I think she she came to the first one and then she said, Oh, we should go to this show. So um everyone but the first one. So how many that is, I don't know.

SPEAKER_10 37:14

It must be eight or what what is it that made you come to Northern Bowl? Nadine.

SPEAKER_06 37:19

Uh no, well, yeah, I mean Well, what did she say to you to convince you to come? I was looking for more, yeah, just to do more shows because it's nice to get out and see people and and sell tools to people and have have a nice chat. So I was just looking for shows and Nadine was like, Oh, there's this new one that I went to last year or whatever it was. And um and it she just said, Yeah, it's lovely, it's sort of small and chilled and friendly and nice, and yeah. Um so yeah, it was just just just that really.

SPEAKER_10 37:46

So, do you do green woodworking or any of the crafts which are here this weekend?

SPEAKER_06 37:51

Yeah, I kind of I've dabbled in most things. I wouldn't say I necessarily do them, but um I have done, I think I've done almost everything, just a little bit of just I'm a bit of a bit of a have a go at everything. So um I yeah, bit I've done a bit of done a few bowls, um carved bowl, done a few spoons, well, quite a few spoons over the years, um, done a bit of hedge laying, done a bit timber framing and joinery. I do lot, I do I still do sort of work on that. Um I like, yeah, made a couple of chairs, a couple of stalls, done a bit of basketry, a bit of weaving. So yeah, a little bit of everything.

SPEAKER_10 38:25

Aren't you more or less making your house in Wales?

SPEAKER_06 38:28

Well, I've just built a or making bits of it, yeah, timber framing. Just built a a cabin to live in for the for the short-term foreseeable, and then we've got the barns that need reframes, their timber frames, so they need well, they probably need pulling down a reframe, uh brand new frames making, but um, yeah, and and then the whole house needs renovation, so I'll do as much of that as I can myself. So yeah, I like doing big I don't I'll do quite doing big projects, building projects and things.

SPEAKER_10 38:51

Excellent. So how have you found the overall experience of Northern Bowl whilst you've been here? It's always lovely.

SPEAKER_06 38:57

It's just I think that's probably the summary of it. Is just lovely. It's um what what makes it lovely? It's just really it's always super chill, really relaxed, there's never any stress, and it's all kind of compact, it's all tucked in, and so everyone's just sort of finding little spaces to get in next to each other, and and um so it all feels cozy and and friendly and yeah, uh, and then and I think the other thing that one of the big things as well is because it's the first one of the year, it's just like you come back from the winter break and you just like you get to see everyone and see what's been going on and all that stuff. So yeah, it's always like a big reunion.

SPEAKER_10 39:31

Yeah, and especially when it's weather like this, it feels like the year really has just started this weekend.

SPEAKER_06 39:36

Absolutely, yeah. No, everything we've been generally, I think the weather's pretty good here, isn't it? Yeah, um, but this weekend especially is absolutely glorious. So, um yeah, a weekend like this in the sun, apple blossom around us, and lovely folks crafting away, and yeah, it's really so if you could summarise Northern Bowl in just a sentence, what would it be?

SPEAKER_10 39:55

It's just bloody lovely, isn't it? I'll take that. Well, thank you very much for answering my questions, and I'll let you go back to your store. Thanks, Adam. What's your name and where are you from?

SPEAKER_03 40:08

My name is Shannon. I'm originally from Devon, grew up in Belfast, and I haven't got a base at the moment.

SPEAKER_10 40:14

Excellent. What are you doing here this weekend? Are you teaching on a course, relaxing, or something else? What you did?

SPEAKER_03 40:22

So on Friday I had a lovely group of six for some beginners' bowl turning, and every came everyone came away with a wonderful bowl. Today I have been hanging out, turning, and helping other people around me and just having a lovely time chatting to people and catching up after the winter. And yeah, I'm gonna do a bit more of the same tomorrow.

SPEAKER_10 40:44

Excellent. Yeah, that's pole lathe turning, is it?

SPEAKER_03 40:47

Yeah, pole lathe turning. So we're originally and historically they use a pole, we've adapted it to using a bungee cord to give us a lot more compact here. Yeah, to give us a bit more um accessibility, I guess.

SPEAKER_10 41:02

Yeah, but but there are a lot of pole lathes here. There's quite a high density of them here, isn't there?

SPEAKER_03 41:07

Yeah, well, we ran, I think it was something like three beginners bowl courses, there were six on each, so you do the maths. I can't do that right now.

SPEAKER_10 41:16

Uh 18, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 41:17

18. And then we've got other people that have brought their own, and then loads of other people that have um asked to use the ones that we've been teaching. So I think there's got to be at least 25 on site.

SPEAKER_10 41:30

Ah, uh it's got to be more than that.

SPEAKER_03 41:33

Well, probably.

SPEAKER_10 41:37

In his garden. Some 26.

SPEAKER_03 41:39

Down in the woods, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 41:42

Although I don't think anyone's having course down there. So have you been to Nolven Bowl before and how many?

SPEAKER_03 41:49

I've been to all of them. All of them, including the first one. Including the first one, 2019. I was one of the first bursary recipients to do a handled bowl course with aid Adrian Lloyd.

SPEAKER_10 42:02

Wow, so so far a lot of people have said they've been to all of them except the first one. I think I might be one of those because the second one was 22, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_03 42:12

So 2019.

SPEAKER_10 42:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:14

And then yeah, 2022 was the second one I'm thinking.

SPEAKER_10 42:18

So yeah, I've been to all of them except the first one. So you're the first person we've talked to who's been to the first one. Can can you can you uh relieve some of the mysteries? What was the first one like compared to this?

SPEAKER_03 42:30

It was very similar. There, I guess wasn't as many families here, young families, because since the first one or since the first one people have been to, we've had a lot more young families emerge. And then also, I think there's a much more variety of variety of crafts. So it was as you can imagine, quite bowl focused for Northern Bowl. Um, so yeah, a bit more crafts, uh baskets, brushes, the like. Yeah, obviously a bit more with um blacksmithing.

SPEAKER_10 43:01

So what made you come to Northern Bowl in the first place?

SPEAKER_03 43:06

So I only knew about it because Matt had been very generous to me the year before and had taught me on an exchange basis.

SPEAKER_01 43:18

Right, okay.

SPEAKER_03 43:19

So I learned here at Abundant Earth how to turn bowls, and it was a bit of a circumstantial um meeting one night whenever I was doing a bit of time exchange on a permaculture course. I met Matt and then I heard him in the woods where he is and where he practices. So 2018 was when I learned how to turn bowls, and then as a result of being involved with that, he said, Do you want to come to this thing called Northern Bowl? And I was like, Yeah, of course I do. And he goes, Well, do you want a course? And I was like, Yeah, of course I do, but I ain't got no money. I did a time exchange to pay for the permanent culture course. She was like, Well, you can have one of our bursary places if you really want to come. And I was like, Yes, please.

SPEAKER_10 43:58

Yeah. What was it like? Getting that bursary course because we're not talking to anyone who's what is a bursary course? What before?

SPEAKER_03 44:04

Oh, great question. So, bursary courses come out of people paying forward either in raffle tickets or whether they've got a little bit of disposable income to give a bit more to our future future generations of crafters. So we've got people that receive bursary courses for different um pre-festival courses, so they're a bit more intense, maybe a day or two. And it means that anyone who maybe has a financial barrier to learning or to being able to enter this environment has then the opportunity to do that.

SPEAKER_10 44:37

Yeah. All right. And who are these uh burses who is eligible for a bursary?

SPEAKER_03 44:45

Anyone within financial hardship, I imagine. So anyone who's maybe on a low income, anyone who's maybe in between jobs, anyone who's maybe at a point in their life where they need a little bit of help financially. And you can apply by emailing the northernbowl at gmail.com, I'm pretty sure, or have a look on the abundant earth website, and you can apply and just email the guys and let them know that you're looking to extend your skills in craft.

SPEAKER_10 45:14

Excellent. And so what you've kind of been over this, but what what greenwood work can do or or any of the other crafts here at home? Like what what what skills have you brought with you?

SPEAKER_03 45:29

What skills have I brought with me? Um where to begin? Do you want to ask me that again and then I can engage with grain?

SPEAKER_10 45:42

So yeah, like there's weaving here, there's turning, but but well, there's lots of things happening here. It's like what relevant crafts do you know that you brought with you that like been showcased here?

SPEAKER_03 45:55

Okay, cool. So I have primarily focused on pole earth turning um for a long time. So I can turn anything from a bowl to a box, including plates, handle bowls, all that kind of great technical stuff. And as I say, that started off with my breast replacement with Adrian Lloyd, but I've learned from loads of lovely people like Amy Lake and Sharif Adams, and obviously Matty Whitaker. So there's definitely the polio side of it. Also, I love a bit of split with basketry, and that's what I'm coming into the public sphere with more these days. It's a bit more um what's the word? You can travel with it a bit more, it's a bit more travel sized. So I do a lot of uh critically endangered split with basketry, including schemed willow or split hazel basketry. I'm also moving into bigger stuff, so I went over and learnt some Spanish kind of style with bigger laughs, which is always super satisfying.

SPEAKER_10 46:57

Yeah, I saw that you went on a little holiday with Amy, didn't you?

SPEAKER_03 47:00

That was fantastic. It was so cool. So we went over for a week and learnt from a guy called uh Carlos Fontales, who has spent four years of his career seeking out people that are still practicing endangered crafts, people that have learnt from generations of crafters and just documents them before they die out. And his house is like a museum, and he's got loads of wonderful gallery pieces down in his local village. And it's traditionally used, so it's like a northern Galathian thing that I did, so it's kind of northern European style of basketry, especially to the northwest of Spain. Um, and they use a lot of sweet chestnut. However, I haven't been able to develop it in the UK just yet because it's really hard to get that size of chestnut in rotation, and the specifications is kind of like what size are you talking about? We're talking about maybe like two inch to three inch diameter.

SPEAKER_10 47:55

A lot of sweet chestnut cockpice down here is like a 10-inch, it's quite big, it's like firewood, isn't it? Really?

SPEAKER_03 48:01

Exactly. Firewood or paling and fencing and that kind of thing. So you leave sweet chestnut coppice traditionally in the UK for fencing, so you're leaving it on a 25 to 30 year rotation, and it's all absolutely beautiful. Whenever you go down to the south in Sussex, it looks like a vast swathe of really well-maintained in rotation coppice. Finding something that's maybe five to seven years old, you're looking at kind of truck makers and things like that you're in competition with to get that kind of source material, so it's really hard to find any kind of small woodland owners with that in rotation.

SPEAKER_10 48:32

But how on earth did it come to be that you went to Spain for this?

SPEAKER_03 48:36

So Amy pretty much just called me and just went, I want to go to Spain on this thing. Do you want to come? And I said yes. And she was like, Oh, right, we're going at this point in January, and I was like, Oh, great, that's my birthday. I'll give it to myself as a birthday present. And then my family found out and helped me get there.

SPEAKER_10 48:52

So that's so we need to track down Amy as to how she found out about this.

SPEAKER_03 48:57

Yeah, pretty much. I just came along for the ride.

SPEAKER_10 48:59

Yeah, because like Spanish green woodworking is I don't think it's a huge thing, really. I've not met many, if any, Spanish green woodworkers.

SPEAKER_03 49:08

So yeah, so I think there's still like from my understanding, anyway, the lots of greenwoodworking in Spain is still done in very rural places. So you have people that have that generational knowledge, have the material that is accessible to them, but then you also don't have those types of people travelling very far and wide. So I there's definitely a person that I can't remember the name of and I won't have any knowledge on, who's based in London, but has the connection to kind of like Gal Galilean basket makers. Okay, so there's there's tenuous strands, yeah, and I'm really interested to see where that can go. But that's just as I say, Money Rabbit Holds. There there will be, hopefully, at some point. But it would be amazing.

SPEAKER_10 49:54

Yeah. So anyway, to bring it back to Northern Bowl, yeah. How have you found Northern Bowl? The experience here, what's the vibe like?

SPEAKER_03 50:04

The vibe is like a big family, it's very much that essence of there's no judgment, a huge amount.

SPEAKER_10 50:13

I don't know about that. There's lots of judgment in my family.

SPEAKER_03 50:16

Well, in this family, in the Northern Bowl family, anyway. I think there's just acceptance and understanding across the board.

SPEAKER_01 50:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:23

Whenever you have that opportunity to come to a family environment where you want to be there, I think is really I'm going all Belfast now. When you want to be there, it's such a magical place to be, and that's what Northern Bowl encapsulates for me, especially when everyone's coming out of winter and we're all kind of reconnecting into this space of spring and lots of hope and joy.

SPEAKER_10 50:48

Yeah. It's like with Greenwood, Greenwood work is Christmas dinner, but in April, isn't it? Pretty much. Yeah. Alright, so if you could summarize Northern Bowl in a sentence, what would it be? Ooh.

SPEAKER_03 51:02

I think I'm gonna find that one challenging. In a sentence.

SPEAKER_10 51:06

Well, maybe that's your sentence. You'd find that challenging.

SPEAKER_03 51:09

I'd find that challenging. Maybe that's my sentence. If I could do it in a golden ball of magic.

SPEAKER_10 51:20

Golden ball of magic. Well, take that. Well, thank you very much, Shannon. And uh yeah. Thanks.

SPEAKER_07 51:30

Yeah, yeah. I I it's always a nice journey. It tends to apart from when I get it off, Adam. I know I can tell you, you know, could take you to the you know, the location where it fell or whatever.

SPEAKER_04 51:40

Same with me and my planks in the yard. It's like some of them have been there 15, 20 years, and it's like, oh, I remember going with a chainsaw into that wooden. I'm saying that, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 51:49

You're live. I've got mic'ed up, so I'll just help Hemma tidy up a bit if you're going.

SPEAKER_07 51:54

We're going now. All right, okay. So you're gonna you can you edit that?

SPEAKER_10 51:58

Can I what do you mean, can I?

SPEAKER_07 52:00

Well, I can I can't edit anyway. We'll we'll have a little chat. Yeah, yeah, we'll get it talking, but as you said, I'm not much very quiet in the background, so yeah.

SPEAKER_10 52:07

I'll just go help Hemma and I'll think it's Mr.

SPEAKER_07 52:10

Matt Whitaker. Thank you very much, mate, for letting us come to your uh wonderful plot here in uh near Durham. Uh you're most welcome. I mean uh it's so good to have your energy, man. Really good. Thank you, mate. Um I know you've done podcasts in the past and you've you've gone into fine detail about the what's happening on this site that you've got here. We just we we're just outside Durham, aren't we? We're are we like five mile and a half is that or is that we're so and I think does this does this little old train track actually take you right into Durham Centre?

SPEAKER_04 52:43

Yeah, and it stretches all the way out into concert. Right. Uh so it's the old mines.

SPEAKER_07 52:49

We've got a lot of those around my way that serve the the coal mine industry. Yeah, yeah. It's a little country lane now, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 52:56

So we're in the DNS Valley basically. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 52:58

So could you just just give us a very short overview of what this site is, where we are? It's abundant earth, it's called, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 53:04

Yeah, it's called abundant earth. Where uh yeah, it's a bit of land we bought when we were in our 20s, and uh we we were really want we were working with land, we were gardeners, yeah. Starting on the woodworking journey, all that kind of stuff. And we'd work for a while and maybe we'd look after trees and then we'd be told, okay, that's lovely, the garden's nice. So it was that feeling of getting to know a piece of land and then having to leave it and really wanting our own. So that's what prompted us to be.

SPEAKER_07 53:32

And becoming attached to it and investing in it. So when you say we, there's there's not just yourself on this site, is there?

SPEAKER_04 53:39

No, there were two families to start with, and uh a fellow called Ian. He we all went in, started a company, and bought it with money borrowed from friends, and uh and am I am I correct in saying that you're totally off-grid?

SPEAKER_07 53:51

Is it almost totally off-grid or is it totally totally off grid? It's totally off-grid.

SPEAKER_04 53:54

Yeah, so when we were building our house, we punctured the aquifer accidentally. And that's your what that's and that's our well. So we had to case on a well into the ground. Before that, we were bringing water in from offside. So, yeah, we've got the wind turbine behind you here, we've got solar panels, and it's been like that for 20 odd years. And uh, and and as we come through, we came through like a vegetable plot thing. Um yeah, so when we first moved here, we we started to we needed a front of house business that made us look respectable because we were long. Am I right in saying it's permaculture? Oh well, Wilf uh used permaculture techniques to his work a lot, yeah. I I I'm I know permaculture a lot because I've been around.

SPEAKER_07 54:37

Yeah, I did I did manage to the the the other family is Beth and Wilf, isn't it? And I had a little chat with both of them together actually. Yeah, and they were they're they're telling me because I saw the sign as I came in that was about vegetable baskets, uh vegetable packs that have grown on site and they're uh distributed uh amongst amongst uh customers in the local area. And the six drop-off parts, but it was telling me that he's maxed, it's sort of maxed out his yield is about 66, 66 customers.

SPEAKER_04 55:03

Yeah, it's only a small garden with so he grows leafy veg here and all of that kind of stuff. So yeah, it was a way for us to make money off the land instantly because the rest of it, you know, there were no tracks, the hedges needed laying, we needed to plant and look after the woodland that sheep had been put through. The previous owners have burnt trees up against mature trees because when we bought it, like pasture land was worth £2,000. Yeah, so you had two. And woodland was worth nothing. Nobody wanted woodland. No. In fact, we went to an estate aide, uh, the state's uh place uh Northumberland, the Duke of Northumberland, yeah, and the estate manager we said, Oh, we'd like a bit of land. Do you have anything? Um we want some wood. And he went, Wood?

SPEAKER_10 55:44

What do you want wood for?

SPEAKER_04 55:45

There's no money in wood, he said. Yeah, really?

SPEAKER_07 55:48

And and and it and it's come full circle now. Uh the the the syndicate syndicating them up into tiny little patches and the you know, the very sort of thing. Yeah, so yeah. So that's the that's the site we're on, it's a lovely site. So we're actually at the Northern Bowl. Uh, I think I believe you were part of the uh origins of the bowl gatherings. Uh is is that would that be fair to say? Uh yeah, we're like Can you can you just like just tell me how how it came to be the bowl gathering concept, you know?

SPEAKER_04 56:16

Well, there were probably about nearly uh eight, nine people that were turning bowls regularly and had right worked it out again basically. There was Robin Wood. Robin Wood, yeah. He started and he wasn't really teaching, but he had some videos on them, yes. And lots of us spent a long time crying over these bits of wood and trying to work out what hooked. Reverse reverse engineer, what is the engine? Just looking on YouTube, freeze frame, all of that. Um we managed to start making decent stuff. Yeah. We thought, right, it would be nice if people didn't have to go through that process. And also at the time, bowl turning was still on the uh the red list of heritage crafts. You know, it was an endangered craft.

SPEAKER_07 56:57

So to accelerate the the the learning and the upskilling of the wider community.

SPEAKER_04 57:02

There were about 20 of us went to a place down south and we met up, and that's how the bowl gathering started down south. It was on it.

SPEAKER_07 57:09

Well, David uh I can't remember his name, it's from New Zealand.

SPEAKER_04 57:13

I I always forget people's names. I didn't go David is definitely his name.

SPEAKER_07 57:16

I can't say it's David, yes, I know, I know. New Zealand David. Uh I'm sorry while I'll correct that. But I didn't go to the first one. Uh and I think it were quite a small, intimate one. Just to just to test out the water. It's like, oh, what can we do? Did you have Jared at that one? Did Jared uh come to that one?

SPEAKER_04 57:32

No, no, there was people like Sean Hellman, Amy Leek, Steve Ridd, Doug Don. Jared. Doug Don was there, wasn't it? Yeah. Uh a few other people that should remember.

SPEAKER_07 57:42

And from so the so that so there was only one bowl gathering, wasn't there, initially? Owen Thomas was there. Yes, yes, Owen would be there, wouldn't he? Yeah, yeah. So so so now there's two there's effectively two bowl gatherings, isn't there? Either sort of end of the scene.

SPEAKER_04 57:57

Yeah. And that's that's great for when you're down south, but it's a long way to travel. Yeah. Not that I would never not go if you no, no, no. But there's a lot of people up here, you know. Yeah. Uh Scotland, Hereford's fat.

SPEAKER_07 58:09

And with Northern Moat. And with the and with the with the price of Derve and things, it's a good thing. Well, it is a factor, mate, isn't it? Yeah. So yours you're sort of opening up to people come because where are you all located? People come down from Scotland, across from Cumbria, without travelling ridiculous. Saying that, you get people coming from abroad, don't you? You get international travellers that that are drawn. What's what sort of capacity is the northern ball map?

SPEAKER_04 58:32

Uh so there've been 120 people here.

SPEAKER_07 58:35

And that's and that and that logistically is a squeeze into that.

SPEAKER_04 58:37

I think I and also it's you know, the whole the whole thing here, what we want to kind of make make a feeling of that that family, that community, that real closeness, like gathering everyone round the fire at night, all of us eating together, you know, all hundred odd people that are here just gathering together at the same time, eating food together.

SPEAKER_07 58:57

I I think I think that I think the USP of this one, it's my favourite event, and I'm not I'm just I'm I I'm being honest here. I think it no, I think it's the the intimacy. Like you say, the the the whole of the gathering, effectively on an evening, yeah, can get around the the central fire fire area, can't they, and like you say, sh share information, share anecdotes, make connections and and and network with each other and sing and like you say forget about your mobile phones. Over the weekend you can talk to everyone. Yeah, you can. Exactly. It is the intimacy. You know, uh I I love this event, mate. I think any more than about that number, it starts fracturing.

SPEAKER_04 59:35

Yeah, in into into and you lose something, you lose something really quite special.

SPEAKER_07 59:41

But I mean I I I seem to remember when the the the very, very genesis of it was were you in Sharif? You know, uh well Sharif and David were because they've they'd got the the the place to do it.

SPEAKER_04 59:54

Yeah, it just so happened that I went to my first Bodgers ball, maybe second, and just met Sharif. Right. Uh and him and David were done. You know, like I just I think I'd just won in my craft competition for a bowl that I'd made. I s I sort of remember you in your early days, right? And that was one of my first things. And so I said, Oh.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:14

So I kind of got in round the back door because I'd just come out of the woods after 15 years of living in this bit of land. We hardly ever used to leave the garden gate from here because we were working the land, yeah, trying to make money out of it. I think so.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:28

Sharif Sharif deserves a bit of credit for for kickstarting it there. Uh but I it seems to me when I when I when I watch this event been advertised and and you know, when you put up your courses and and it it's more or less sold out straight away, and there's a lot a lot of people here, the the repeat people that we we see every year.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:49

Yeah, I think it's worked out about 70 um percent people that have been here before, and uh 30% new people, right? I think that's what I worked out.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:01

Yeah, and the and the uh yeah, it's like a hive activity during the day. Um so we've just we've we've we're sort of just wrapping up now, we've we've just had a charity auction that sort of brings the brings the event to a close, doesn't it, mate? Um can you just uh what so it it's a it the when we're saying it's a charity auction, we what we do all the craftspeople kindly donate uh charit uh raffle prizes. We have a raffle and everybody nearly everybody gets surprised affected because of that many people that are willing to donate. So what what what is that what what does the money go for that's raised from that?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:35

So initially uh there were very few people doing bowls in eight, nine, ten, twelve years ago for the Southern Bowl. So and there were less women then than there are now. So for here for the first couple of years, it was uh to promote women in craft. So we had people to make it a safe space and yeah, yeah. Uh and a less macho environment, yeah. Yeah, well, and just uh and people that you know were just beginning their craft journey and couldn't necessarily afford another £100 ticket or a course, yeah, but they really wanted, and you could see like the fervor of wanting to learn. So it was just and it still is now, so this year four for people under a under 20 which is really encouraging, interesting. Have had like a course and a ticket, they've been fed, they've been looked after, they've been taught by some of the best in the craft world, yeah, and they've gone away starting their craft energized, in i inspired hopefully, and and they're they're the future, mate.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:35

So uh yeah, it's a it's a it's an extreme worth.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:37

That common linkage we have. You know, I I I taught in uh uh Rome, Vinderlander, the Roman uh, yeah. Uh well I demonstrated that and this guy to Vinderlander and he he said, Oh, come and have a look. And he was the head of the wood finds. And uh up there were thousands of bits of wood in Ziploc bags, and he pulled one out of the water. I've been to Vinderlander, I haven't seen that. Oh, it's all in back offices. He pulled out the core of a bowl. Right. Yeah. He gave it to me, I touched it, I held it, and I'm like, oh wow. 2,000 years old. It was 2,000 years old. Yeah. And I took him downstairs to my lathe, and we were ruffled about in the shavings, and there was something that looked almost exactly the same. 2,000 years old. How awesome. I mean, if that is an heritage crafty is to keep that line.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:18

If that isn't an heritage craft that needs keeping off that danger list. Yeah. So thanks very much for giving me five minutes of your time, mate. I think we've given Adam's gone round and he's he's got the perspective of the people that's here. Uh there's one last question we've got to ask you, mate. Will there be a Northern Bowl gathering in 2027? Of course they will, yeah. We'll look forward to seeing you again then, mate. We'll look forward to you. And I don't mean that, mate. Thanks a lot, mate. Cheers, mate. We'll let him turn it off. Cheers, mate. Thanks for giving me a time.

SPEAKER_10 1:03:47

So that is the end of our two-parter Northern Bowl tunes and spoon episode. I hope, I really hope it gave you a really good flavour of what Northern Bowl is like, and a really good mind's eye picture of what Northern Bowl is like. I feel like all the important aspects of Northern Bowl were explored and explained, and uh I really hope that it's made you want to come along next year. It's a really good festival, everyone enjoys it, I definitely do. John John really enjoys it. And uh yeah, it's definitely important for us to go, so uh we hope that's that's been uh translated but that that's come through, that's it. Yeah, I hope that's come through and uh makes you want to go. So first of all, we'd like to say thank you so much to everyone who um put up with me shoving a microphone in my face and uh having to put the tools down for a few minutes and talk to me. So definitely at Northern Bowl you go there to to make things and have nice nice chats with people, not have me annoy you with microphone asking lots of annoying questions. So um yeah, thank you to everyone who uh let me have a little chat with them. Um it's uh yeah, it was really appreciated. We also want to say thank you to Matt and Steve who organise Northern Bowl and without them it wouldn't have happened and wouldn't be happening. So we really want to say thank you for them first having this event and also letting John and I have chats with people, post all of this. Um so yeah, thank thank you for uh letting that all be. And then a super huge thank you to Richard Roberts, who has edited all the episodes. So far and the unreleased episodes that we have coming up. It's uh a huge burden to edit these. John doesn't want to do it, I don't want to do it. And uh Richard has uh very kindly volunteered to do it. Um he says he's enjoying it. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. But uh yeah, thank you, Richard, for editing these. It really means a lot. Uh and it means that John and I can uh yeah go about interviewing people and hand it over to Richard and he does an excellent job editing it. So thank you so much. And the final thank you is to you, the listener. So far, uh so at Northern Bowl was John of mine's first um chance to meet uh our listeners, and so many people came up to us and have said how much they enjoyed listening to them. Um and at the Bodgers Bowl, um, a lot of people came up to us and said, Oh, I've been listening to Tunes of Spoons is fantastic. And that was with without us twisting their arms, but they did that uh unprompted. So uh yeah, it it really means a lot for when people say that, and it's uh yeah, definitely inspired us to uh get get going and and interview some more people. So, yes, thank you so much, and we'll see you on the next one. Bye.