Greenwood Courses
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about paul hayden and the tutors

paul hayden

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PAUL HAYDEN has been making Windsor Chairs for more than twenty five years. He has been a regular  contributor to Good Woodworking magazine and has designed and developed tools which are used by chair makers across the world.

While writing for Good Woodworking and representing them at shows and exhibitions he was often asked for help about some of the techniques specific to this sort of woodwork. These queries led him to set up a series of workshops on subjects such as steam bending, kiln drying, seat carving, making and using jigs, and making rounding planes.  It was these workshops that became the Chair  Making Courses he runs at Westonbirt Arboretum today.

pete murray

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 (aka: The Artful Bodger - www.theartfulbodger.co.uk)

Pete and I met in 2007 when he attended a 'week in the woods' at Westonbirt as part of a selection process for the Coppice Skills Apprenticeship. Recognising a kindred spirit (and an equally dodgy sense of humour)  I invited him to attend a chair making course and eventually to help out.
Before long Pete was making really beautiful chairs in his own right and since completing his apprenticeship has been a full time tutor on my courses.

In 2012 Pete was received the Young Craftsman of the year award in recognition of his chair making skills.


ralph kingscott

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Ralph is an old school woodsman and a highly skilled craftsman. He manages a part of the ancient Selwood Forest for Brokerswood Country Park where he is responsible for the estate management and maintenance. After he made all the chairs for the restaurant there I persuaded him to join the tutorial team on my courses.

He sources the Green Timber we need for the courses and comes in to help for the last days of each course when we are framing the chairs.

Ralph is quite shy and didn't want his face shown here!

tom walter

Tom was still a schoolboy when he first came on the course. He showed a natural flair for woodwork and came back each year to make bigger and more complicated chairs. Having completed a forestry skills apprenticeship with the National Trust he joins us when he can contributing both his skills and his own irreverent sense of humour
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