Further Education

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

 

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