Wicklow Chip Basket
A 2 or 4 day basket weaving workshop
2 day, 2-3 August, £320, 9.30-5
4 day, £525, 31 July - 3 August 2025, 9.30-5
Join me for this unique course where you’ll come for 4 days to see the whole process from tree to basket or join me for the last 2 days to learn how to weave the basket.
This is a new structure of workshop that I’m offering. If you have already learned how to rive oak, or have no interest in that part of the process, you can still be involved in weaving this historic basket. I hope it is clear how the course works, any questions please send me an email to ask.
Scroll down to learn more…
What you’ll learn
Day 1
A walk around the oak coppice and an introduction to the history of the woodland and the work we do there
How to select suitable trees for basketry
Which parts of the tree are useable for baskets, and what to do with the rest
How to cleave oak with an axe and wedges and then a froe
We’ll load the wood into the boiler, fill it with water and light it
How to select hazel rods for the rim, shave it with a shavehorse and drawknife
Steam bending hazel rod for the rim around a former
Day 2
Most of the day will be spent riving the hot oak out of the boiler
Learn how to tear oak in a controlled way to split it evenly into strips
All these skills are transferable to other split wood baskets as well as to many other greenwood crafts
Day 3
Welcome the 2-day ticket holders
How to dress our materials ready for weaving
How to use a drawknife and mare, or a knife, to dress and shape oak taws to be woven
Begin weaving the basket
Day 4
Finish weaving the basket
If there’s extra time we take a walk to another oak coppice
What to bring
Packed lunch
Sturdy outdoor footwear.
Clothing suitable to be working outdoors all day.
Gardening or working gloves to protect your hands from the tannins.
The boiled oak can produce a black dye that will stain your clothes and hands. Please wear old clothing that you don't mind getting discoloured.
Notepad and pencil
Who is this workshop for?
The workshop is for anybody who wants to learn more about oak coppicing or heritage basketry.
Perhaps you’re a basketmaker keen to try split wood techniques.
You’re interested in managing woodland in an environmentally sound way.
Or a designer wanting to add an element of riven wood to your work.
Places available
There are 7 available spaces on the course.
Accessibility
Some level of fitness is required. There’s a short walk into the wood up a rocky track and we’ll be working on uneven woodland ground in all weathers.
We will either be in the woods or in an outdoor workshop space so I won’t be taking any covid precautions but I will have spare masks available if that would make you feel comfortable. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email and I’ll be happy to help.
Skill level: Beginner
The weaving pattern is simple but preparing the material is very physical and involves a degree of hand and upper body strength.
Where is it?
The course will be held at a new venue, a barn that will become a hub for split wood basketry. It needs some renovation first so we’ll be working outside, under a tarp if the weather is bad.
The postcode is LA12 8LQ.
I’ll send out directions and parking instructions closer to the date.
Public transport:
The valley doesn’t have any public transport but you can stay within walking distance and I’m happy to pick you up from Ulverston Train Station or Hawkshead bus stop are available on the day before the course and the morning afterwards. Email me to chat about this.
Tell me more about the Wicklow Chip
I researched the Wicklow Chip basket in 2024 with thanks to the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers, National Folklore Collection and National Museum of Ireland. The photographs below are taken from negatives in the Folklore Collection.
It was last made in 1950 by Nicholas Hilliard in Ballinglen, Co Wicklow, who was 85 at the time. The Folklore Commission visited Nicholas to photograph him making and to collect some baskets.
I hope to take this back to teach in Ireland but in the meantime I’m pleased to be teaching it at my base in Cumbria.
The basket is simpler to weave than the Cumbrian oak basket and my hope it that this will make it easier for people to learn and continue the skills of oak basketry.
What is included?
All materials and tool use
Plenty of hot and cold drinks, cakes and snacks.
A completed oak basket.
Extra materials will be available to buy at the end of the course.
Where to stay
There is a lot of accommodation in the Lake District so you won’t struggle to find somewhere.
Click here for a list of Airbnbs close to the Barn and Woodland venues
Grizedale camping has camping spaces for tents and vans, yurts and pods to hire, and a bunkbarn. . The Eagles Head pub in Satterthwaite is a short walk away.
Terms and Conditions
Participant cancellation:
If you need to cancel your place on the course please give me as much notice as possible.
If it is up to 21 days before the course start date, I will re-advertise and endeavour to fill the place. You will get a full refund.
If it is less than 21 days before the course start date you will not be automatically eligible for a refund, unless the space can be filled.
I know that emergencies happen and they aren’t always conveniently 21 days before an event. Get in touch and I’ll try to help in any way I can.
Course cancellation:
If there are not enough bookings for a course to be viable by 21 days before the course date, then I will contact all course members immediately by phone or email and all payments will be refunded in full.
If I have to cancel a course at short notice due to any unavoidable circumstances, then I will contact all course members immediately by phone or email and all payments will be refunded in full.
