22 Rural Matters - CPRE

A COUNTRY LIVING working with wood and bark. I appreciate the artistry but also the use and purpose.

One of my favourite sayings:

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

And when he’s not working with wood, you’ll find Jack wildcamping in the woods with his wife, Hayley, five-year old daughter Lyla and toddler, aptlynamed Hazel. Lyla’s first wild camping experience was at just three months.

“You can’t beat a night sleeping out, looking up at the stars through the trees.”

Some of the items made during Jack Fazey’s classes: spoons, woven baskets and bark containers. All images Courtenay Hitchcock A few simple hand tools are used to create the majority of Jack’s projects. The Axe, Froe, Knife & Saw are the tools he uses the most.

Jack’s happiest outdoors - when he’s not working with wood, you’ll find him wild-camping in the woods with his wife, Hayley, five-year old daughter Lyla and toddler, aptly-named Hazel

Quick-fire questions with Jack:

Favourite TV show?

Anything Sir David Attenborough does. I also like the Repair Shop.

Ideal dinner guests?

David Attenborough along with tribal elders. I’ve always been fascinated with the way indigenous people see the world. We need to listen and learn from them to save our planet.

Best book?

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall-Kimmerer - an astonishing work of science and beauty. Everyone should read it.

Favourite tree?

Birch – it’s not only beautiful but has so many uses. Its bark is probably the oldest form of making containers. It resists fungal growth so it’s ideal for food storage. It’s a great firelighter in the dampest of conditions and in spring, you can drink its sap which is loaded with nutrients.

Gillingham’s survivor pubs

At least externally, two of Gillingham’s pubs have barely changed in the 120 years between these two pictures, says Roger Guttridge.

Confusion reigns over the address of the Phoenix Inn at Gillingham, which some sources give as High Street, others as The Square and which until the 1880s was in Bridge Street. Names aside, the location has changed remarkably little in the 120 years or so between the taking of these two pictures. For one thing the two pubs in the picture not only survive but retain their names, although the Phoenix (near right) has changed from ‘Commercial Hotel’ to ‘Inn’. The Red Lion is a few doors further along on the right. Between them are the former Free School, which was founded in 1516 and survived until 1876; Mayflowers the florists; the Topsie Rabbit Kindergarten; Stone House; and Reynolds’ pet supplies and boot repairs. The Square end of the Phoenix (near right in the bottom image) is now the Gillingham Tandoori Indian Restaurant. On the far left of the pictures (where the two boys stand) is the entrance to Church Walk, leading to the parish church. Beyond the boys today are the art shop Scenes, a couple of takeaway shops, the Studio and Rutters the solicitors. The large three-storey building in the middle of the terrace formerly hosted Silvester Edgar’s watchmaking, printing and bookbinding business but is now residential accommodation.