4-Day Intensive Skills Workshop – Traditional Round Baskets -2026

Description

COURSE Dates for 2026:

– May 7th – 10th 2026 / Thursday – Sunday  

– August 14th – 17th 2026 / Friday – Monday

£465 per person plus £25 materials paid directly to Justine on the first day.

(includes lunch and dessert each day and access to tea station)

10am – 4.30pm daily 

Your experience will include:

• 4 days tuition (10am – 4.30pm) from Justine, holder of the UK National Collection of Salix and professional weaver and tutor. 
• small intimate group with high levels of 1:1 tuition with a max of  6 participants
• Homemade vegetarian/ gluten free lunch and homemade dessert every day as well as access to a coffee/tea station throughout the day
• The course will cover:
  • Basic willow cultivation, harvesting and storage
  • Effective willow preparation
  • Introduction to basic weaving tools
  • Round bases – how to construct traditional stake and strand bases and things to consider when designing your base. You will have time to practice and make 3-5 bases and turn them into baskets (and other items) during the course.
  • Sides – Adding uprights and exploring which traditional weaves work best. eg 3-rod wale, French rand and slewing
  • Borders – you will spend a day looking at border types, when to choose which border and why. This can include the beautiful Polish asymmetric border designed by Polish basketmaker Stanislaw Dziubak in 1997.
  • Handles – we will explore 2/3 types of handles as well as adding a simple leather version
  • Optional Homework to help you embed your skills further
  • Includes use of tools and comprehensive list of willow and tools suppliers. The £25 materials fee paid directly to Justine on the first day will cover all the willow used during the four days.
• A dedicated, modern learning space at Ash Farm with a log burner for a cosy environment.
• Sumptuous homemade lunch prepared by Sian and her team, and daily dessert with tea and coffee on tap.
• Optional Basketmakers Tool Kit available to pre-order with Justine – perfect to store in one of the baskets you will make.

Onsite accommodation available to book if you would like to stay at Ash Farm for the duration of the course. Contact Sian directly if you would like to stay in one of the rooms available. See both rooms via the link : https://sianodoherty.co.uk/product-category/accommodation/

REFUND AND CANCELLATION POLICY

If you need to cancel a workshop

We try our best to price our workshops fairly and offer good value for money. We therefore have a clear non-refundable policy to ensure that we cover our costs and the ongoing viability of the workshop.

We do appreciate that sometimes-unforeseen circumstances may mean that you can’t attend a workshop so we are happy for you to send along a friend to take your place, we will need their name and contact details prior to the workshop.

If you contact us at least 14 days in advance of the start date of the workshop, then we can offer a transfer to the same workshop on an alternative date, providing there are places available or a workshop is planned. If there are no suitable future dates, we can provide a voucher to be used for a future workshop booking.

Please note that there are no make-ups for missed sessions if the workshop is over more than one session.

Our right to cancel a workshop

Should we need to cancel a workshop due to unforeseen circumstances, we will aim to give you as much notice as possible of the cancellation. Unfortunately, we cannot accept any liability for travel or other costs.