Westonbirt and the Scratch Stock

The weather gods were clearly smiling on Saturday as it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day, just right in fact for a trip out to Westonbirt for the 'Festival of the Tree'. The whole show is set out in about 600 acres of woodland at the National Arboretum near Tetbury. There were all sorts of exhibits from toy-making to turning and everything in between, including a display of bonsai trees. There was though, quite a lot of arty-farty tat for sale which was of little or no interest, but I expect that's only to be expected at such a large event. Needless to say, Classic Hand Tools had 'pole position' and their marquee was packed out with a droolworthy collection of stands with some very tempting kit. The only thing I did come away with was a copy of Robert Ingham's book 'Cutting Edge Cabinetmaking' and although I've only skipped through it at the moment it promises to be a definitive 'must have' reference.

All the lads were there and from left to right we have Pete Newton, then Ed Sutton, David Charlesworth, Phill Edwards, Paul Chapman, Mike Reilly and last but not least, Martin the Woodkateer who came away from the show with a rather tasty shooting board made with my own fair hands.

You may be wondering what Pete's got clutched in his hand...well it's the prototype version of my new scratch stock which he made for me a few days ago. It really is a fantastic tool!