Assington Mill runs a varied and ever changing set of courses themed around practical, environmental and hobby subjects. We are sure you will find a subject of interest. Please click here for details of Assington Mill.
MOSAIC – PAVING SLABS (new)
Create your own mosaic paving slabs/stepping stones for the garden with Anne Schwegmann-Fielding.
Saturday 23 January 2010. £65 including lunch
STORYTELLING for BEGINNERS
Learn how to tell stories to your children, grandchildren, school class or congregation with professional storyteller Paul Jackson. Sunday 31 January. £50 inc. lunch etc.
GILDING, water & oil
An unusually intensive two-day course to learn how to water and oil gild picture frames, mirrors etc. with the help of a professional gilder,. Leader: Claire Daly
Weekend 6/7 February. £160 inc. lunch & materials
UPHOLSTERY
Save money! Learn to re-upholster your own dining chairs, or a stool, with the help of a professional upholsterer. Leader: Gary Phipps. (8 places only).
Thu/Fri 11/12 Feb. £145 for two days, including lunch
HEN KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS
This course is designed for those who want to keep a few hens in the garden, and will be a mixture of theory and practical. Leader: Francine Raymond
Sunday 21 February & 18 July, £65 including lunch.
BASKETS FOR FREE
Rediscover the “bushcraft” skills of our ancestors by gathering a range of plants in the wild, then transforming these into beautiful, simple baskets with the guidance of experienced tutor Sandra Barker.
Weekend 27/28 February. £135 including lunch
SINGING for BEGINNERS/RETURNERS
Spend a day here and experience the excitement of singing with others and find out whether you have a voice with a future that can keep in tune, or not. No one will be asked to do a solo! Leader Michael Nicholas
Saturday 6 March. £55 inc. lunch
KEEPING A FEW PIGS (new)
The basics of pig-keeping: what breed, housing, enclosures, feeding & breeding, etc. Leader: Kevin Blundell. Sunday 14 March. £55 (new)
A unique one-day course on traditional sign-writing, probably not offered anywhere else.
Leader: Wayne Tanswell.
Tuesday 16 March. £120 inc. lunch
BUYING YOUR FIRST HORSE (new)
Essential information before you make this big investment: where and what to buy, what to look for, space and feeding requirements, pitfalls, equipment etc. Leader: Sandy Nicholson. Sunday 21 March. £50, inc. lunch,
GARDEN MACHINERY MAINTENANCE
Bring your lawnmower (pedestrian), strimmer & hedge cutters and learn to service them. Save money and time this year and every year from now onwards!
Leader: Simon Millyard.
Saturday 27 March. £70 including lunch & materials.
FURNITURE CONSERVATION
Bring your own furniture and mend it with the help of a professional furniture conservator. Leader: Anne Holden
Weekend 27/28 March. £140 including lunch & mats
STAINED GLASS
A great introduction to stained glass of all sorts of colours and textures. Make your own stained glass panel or mirror using traditional techniques. Leader Anna Conti
Weekend 10/11 April. £140 inc lunch & materials
HERBAL MEDICINE-MAKING
Unearth the secret Green Pharmacy locked in our fields and hedgerows. Learn how to identify safely, collect and prepare the medicinal plants growing all around us and start your own herbal medicine cabinet to take away. Led by Emma Eastham, Jude Greenan & Vanessa Neville
Saturday 17 April. £65 inc lunch & materialss
FLY FISHING for ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS
Starting equipment, fly choice, still water and river techniques, species, practical demo of tackle assembly and fly casting tuition (and you might catch a trout).
Leader: John Lattimore. 24 April, £65 inc. lunch
SHEEP FOR SMALLHOLDERS (new)
One-day course on everything you need to know to start keeping a few sheep: feed, breeds, methods of enclosure, on-going care, pests and diseases. Leader: Alan Adcock
Sunday 25 April. £55 inc. lunch
CORACLE MAKING
Make your own coracle, an ancient form of boat, suitable for one or two paddlers, very portable and great fun. Leader: Olivia Elton Barratt (8 places only)
7-9 May. £250 for 3 days inc. lunch & materials (£60)
FRUIT TREE PRUNING
One-day course covering the principles of pruning, use of tools, sharpening, plus demonstrations on how to prune new trees, and old neglected ones. Leader: Chris Heseltine. Friday 14 May, £65 including lunch
FOOD FOR FREE
Walk around the farm to learn about the edible roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits of our common plants. Penny will show us what to do with some of them later. Leaders: Nick Miller, Emma Eastham & John Warner.
Sunday 16 May, £50 inc. lunch
A DAY WITH BADGERS
Spend an afternoon and an evening studying badgers: how to tell a badger sett from a rabbit hole; what tracks they make; their habits and lifecycle. You may even see one, but we are not promising anything! Leader: Bob Cowlin
Friday 21 May pm, £65 inc. high tea. 8 places only.
WILLOW for GARDENS
Learn how to make plant supports & simple structures for the garden. An enjoyable weekend. Leader: Sandra Barker
Weekend 22/23 May. £140 inc. lunch
BEEKEEPING – QUEEN-REARING (new)
For those who want to take their beekeeping further, a two-day course by international expert Clive de Bruyn.
Thu/Fri 27/28 May.
CLAY OVEN BUILDING
A very practical day learning how to make a clay oven, for bread & pizzas, using local clay. Leader: Jon Dyvig
Sat 5 June. £70 inc lunch
BREAD-MAKING (new)
A one-day course to help you improve your bread-making skills. We will explore three different rising methods and use several flour types including gluten-free flours. Leader: John Lawrence
Sun 6 June. £70 inc. lunch
STRAWBALE BUILDING
Learn how to build using straw bales, with the help of Barbara Jones, Britain’s foremost straw bale builder.
Fri-Sun 11-13 June. £270 including lunch
CHARCOAL-BURNING (new)
Very small-scale production of barbecue fuel charcoal in kilns made from old oil drums. Leader: Herman Ramsey
Saturday 19 June. £55 inc. lunch
BEEKEEPING for BEGINNERS
Students will learn how to set up an apiary, what equipment to buy, beekeeping terminology, the life cycle of the bee, how to identify the different members of the hive, the bee calendar, and diseases. Simon Cousins
20 Jun, 17 Jul & 4 Sep. £75 inc lunch.(See also below)
HANDS on the HIVE: 6 June, 25 July. £35
CHAIRS & BASKETS (new)
Learn how to renew cane & rush seating using natural materials cane, and rush, under the supervision of a professional. She will also teach traditional basket-making. Leader: Sandra Barker
Three-day course, 2-4 July. £180 including lunch
LIMEPLASTER for STRAWBALE BUILDINGS
This is a 3-day practical course led by Barbara Jones, Britain’s foremost strawbale builder.
Fri-Sun 9-11 July. £270 inc. lunch
PHOTOGRAPHY – NATURE & LANDSCAPE
A weekend with professional photographer Jon Sturdy learning how to capture those special effects, using the beautiful rural landscape here at Assington Mill.
Weekend 24/25 July. £140 inc lunch etc.
MOSAIC USING SEASHELLS (new)
Make something beautiful and long-lasting with all those sea shells collected on your holidays, & over the years.
Leader: Anne Schwegmann-Fielding
Sat 11 Sep. £65 including lunch
FELT-MAKING (new)
Felt-making is an ancient textile process. Come and learn how to transform washed and combed sheep’s fleece into beautiful, tactile, durable felt, using nothing more than soap, water & friction! Leader: Frances Barker
Sunday 12 September. £55 inc. lunch (mats £10 pp)
CYDER MAKING – an introduction
Do you have a glut of apples/pears in the autumn? Come and find out what to do with them with professional cyder maker, Simon Reed, of the Rough Old Wife press in Kent.
25 & 26 September (1 day). £75 p.d. inc. mats and lunch.
BOOK CONSERVATION
Bring your own books to repair and conserve using a variety of methods and with a minimum of specialist materials/equipment. Leader: Jane Wilson.
Wed- Fri 6-8 Jan 2010. £280 inc lunch. V. small class
CURTAIN MAKING
Learn how to make beautiful curtains yourself, and save lots of money in future. Leader: Millie Heptinstall
Sunday 29 November. £70 inc. lunch (small class)
CELTIC DRAWING
Learn to draw both freehand and geometrically: interlace, complex spirals, pelta form, tiskeles, key-pattern, animal forms, vegetal forms, metal-working motifs etc. Make your own designs and copy classical designs. Leader: Nick Miller. Saturday 16 October, £55 including lunch
FOOD FOR FREE
Walk around the farm to learn about the edible roots, stems, leaves, fungi and fruits of our common plants. Leaders: Ian Rose, Emma Eastham & John Warner.
Sunday 17 Oct. £50 inc lunch.
SPINNING from the RAW FLEECE
Learn the basics of hand spinning using raw fleece from rare breed sheep and the processes involved in preparation. Bring or borrow your own wheel if possible. Fleeces provided. Leader: Sally Hind
Sat 23 October. £95inc. lunch. (6 places only).
COURSES at ASSINGTON MILL 2010
(between Sudbury & Colchester)
| Hedgelaying |
Coracle making |
| Celtic drawing |
Stained glass |
| Herbal medicine |
Photography |
| Hands on the hive |
Storytelling |
| Straw bale building |
Fly fishing |
| Furniture conservation |
Animation |
| Beekeeping for beginners |
Spinning |
| Willow garden structures |
Singing |
| Cane and rush chair seating |
Gilding |
| Historic timber-framed houses |
Mosaic |
| Garden machinery maintenance |
Bread |
| Sheep husbandry for smallholders |
Badgers |
| Plumbing basics for amateurs |
Massage |
| Pig-keeping - introduction |
Gardening |
| Woodwork for amateurs |
Upholstery |
| Drawing for beginners |
Pig-keeping |
| Silver clay jewellery |
Henkeeping |
| Book conservation |
Food for free |
| Fruit tree pruning |
Felt-making |
| Charcoal-burning |
Cyder making |
| Ballroom dancing |
Your first horse |
| Curtain-making |
Baskets for free |
| Sign-writing |
Queen-rearing |
Contact: Anne Holden
T: 01787 229955
M: 07770 550570
E:
info@assingtonmill.com
W:
www.assington