Join Alister Neville for a focussed day in the outdoors Carving a Design in Hardwood for a decorative plaque, board, bowl, house sign - or another project perhaps!

Arriving in a large van weighed down with 3 massive hand heavy workbenches, Alister brings a full set of really sharp wood carving tools for each student, plenty of resources and some lovely pieces of hardwood to choose from for your piece - including sycamore, ash, oak, birch.

Sometime carvers opt for a house name board, but many other items are carved as well; animals, numbers and sayings. Anything is possible - time allowing - in the day.  The workbenches are placed under canopies if it looks like rain. Four people to each bench, plenty of space still and very solid.

A lovely if not rather meditative way to spend a day and end up with something lovely!

9.45 -  4.45pm
£88 Lunch included
Material Charges up to approx. £15 depending on choice of wood

Dates for this course - see the table below to book:

Saturday 20 September 2025

Typically this course runs with around 8 students. Kindly note that there is charge of up to £15 for the piece of hardwood you choose to work on, payable to Alister on the day.

Please bring:  All materials are provided by the tutor, please bring any references for your design if you have a particular idea. By all means print if off to the size you would like to carve to fill an A4 size page is ideal.  Working too small is much harder.Health and safety.  There will be a safety briefing at the start of the class.  If you are allergic to plasters please bring your own in the event you have a small injury.

About the Artist  Alister Neville has been carving exciting designs and sculpting in Hardwoods for many years, he has supplied numerous Cumbrian schools with unique tree stump carvings of Owls,Bears, Pandas and much more, along with  his wide range of complementary rustic seating in schools and villages throughout Cumbria.  Some year ago he carved a 3D wooden cyclists for the Cycle Cafe entrance.