00:00today i found myself at the beautiful surroundings of calderstone's boathouse
00:06and in front of me merseyside woodturners association now let's have a quick turn around
00:12their workshop this used to be the boathouse for the lake but they stopped burning the boats in
00:18the 70s and just left this place to go to ruin and then in 2008 so we've been closed for
00:23over 30 years
00:23we as a club heard the building was potentially available and we've got actually eight leads in
00:28the club that for use six in one part and two in the other part of the club the association
00:35focuses
00:36on teaching and sustaining the craft of shaping wood on a lathe a technique with origins dating back
00:42thousands of years to early civilizations including ancient egypt i mean you've got a tree you still
00:48how beautiful the tree is but then again you can make something out of a piece of a tree it's
00:53something even more beautiful john a former firefighter is the group's oldest volunteer
00:58at 92 he went to university at the age of 70 to study fine art i first started coming to
01:05the wood
01:06turners back in 2008 i just finished three years at university where i studied fine art and whilst i was
01:15there i saw somebody making things out of wood and the lady who was doing it she was a member
01:21of the
01:21club and she invited me over to have a go on one saturday afternoon i came along i've been here
01:28ever
01:28since not quite trusting myself with a lathe john showed me the process of pyrography which is marking
01:35wood with heat and i got to create this bee to take home formed in 1993 by a small group
01:42of mainly
01:43amateur enthusiasts the organizations expanded its reach significantly with more than 1300 people attending
01:50introductory sessions over the years what people tend to do for the first time they'll usually
01:56make something like this which is for carrying carrier bags basic thing that you'd use to go
02:01shopping and it's just getting a rough piece of wood rounding it off marking it and then finishing
02:05off with a sealant and whatever you finish you want whether it be wax or oil and once they've done
02:13that the next thing that they tend to make is a bowl the association provides structured opportunities
02:19for learning offering supervised workshops where participants can develop practical skills safely
02:24while gaining an understanding of materials and tools we've got lots of stuff in our gallery to show
02:29people what can be made out of wood and it's to show people coming out of the street what can
02:36be made
02:36but also the people who are learning once they've gone through the basics it's an inspiration for them
02:41we also have a go at making this and they do organizers say the aim is to support both newcomers
02:46and
02:47experienced practitioners creating an environment where knowledge is shared across generations
02:51they do congratulations fingers crossed the good lord i'll be here in november i'll be 92.
02:58i'll be here in november i'll be 92.
02:58to.
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