Journal
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
The latest news and stories from our workshop, and beyond.
During the sunny and calm days of last week we welcomed Sam to the Otter workshop to make his own wooden surfboard. The lack of waves at the bottom of the hill and the sun streaming through the open doors gave us the perfect setting to guide Sam through the making and shaping of his surfboard, also providing a few opportunities to grab lunch at the beach and bask in the sun during tea breaks outside our blue doors. With this being our first...
For those of you that have bought one of our handplane kits, this How To guide will take you through each step of the making of your bodysurfing...
In the last week of October, we were joined in the workshop by Harry and Chris. Both had travelled from the other side of the UK, to join us, but...
Do Make has now been out in the world for a couple of months, since publication day on the 3rd of September. I’ve never considered myself a...
During the first week of October, Rachel and Jerome came to join us to make their own surfboards. Rachel made herself a 9’1 Wicket, that was set to...
This Sunday, the 29th of November at 11am, I'll be in conversation with Mark Shayler as part of the Digital Craft Festival, live on Zoom and Facebook. Join us here. At the beginning of every summer for the past three years, we've loaded up the van and headed up to Bovey Tracey, in Devon, to demonstrate at the Contemporary Craft Festival. For obvious reasons, things have been a little different this year, so Sarah and...
The bank holiday at the end of August is often the day that kicks off our most popular workshop of the year. It’s normally the week that fills up...
Until 1967, there was no such thing as a longboard. Then the shortboard revolution happened and all of a sudden what had previously been called...
A week or so after re-opening the workshop post-lockdown, a delivery driver dropped off a large, heavy parcel. We had no idea what it was,...
We haven’t run a surfboard workshop for a few months, so when we knew Ben was going to join us for our first surfboard workshop since February,...
At our 2017 Annual Gathering of Makers we were joined and entertained by The Cheddar Experiment (the side project of Reef bass player Jack Bessant). Jack had Reef’s acclaimed American producer with him, George Drakoulias, as they were in between recording sessions for Reef’s last album Revelation. George joined Ched Ex on stage (the corner of the barn), and sat on a chair jamming along with the band on a really unusual looking...
Back in February we welcomed Adrien into the workshop. It feels like such a long time since we flung open our workshop doors and welcomed anyone...
Good Timber By Douglas Malloch (1922) The tree that never had to fight For sun and sky and air and light, But stood out in the open...
In the episode five of our Boardrack Briefing series, James shares the design details and inspiration behind the popular 7'2"Coaster. A...
If you’re missing the sea and surfing, then Lockdown Surf Film Festival might be just the tonic to help you stay connected to surf culture and...
“We tend to think of landscapes as affecting us most strongly when we are in them or on them, when they offer us the primary sensations of touch and sight. But there are also the landscapes we bear with us in absentia, those places that live on in memory long after they have withdrawn in actuality, and such places - retreated to most often when we are most remote from them - are among the most important landscapes we possess.” - Robert...
Right now, the restorative power of making and reconnecting with your own two hands, and of staying connected with each other, has never been more...
On Friday 6th March, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales signed one of our 7’10” Clipper wooden surfboards to signify and celebrate the...
One windy Monday morning in the beginning of March we were joined at the workshop by the lovely Matt Barr, of the Looking Sideways action sports...
