Latest reviews

Carol Greenhalgh reviewed: Spoon carving course (1 day)

"A wonderful day with David on the spoon carving course, lovely relaxed atmosphere, clear and understandable instructions. Will be buying some tools to finish my spoon and practice some more."

Martin Stokes reviewed: woodturning tuition Hartlepool

"I received excellent tuition from Dennis. His explanations and demonstrations of the various gouges, their correct use, including correct hand grip and body stance, was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed my day and was exceedingly chuffed to have been able to produce three nice pieces of work. I can absolutely recommend Dennis’ course."

woodturninghartlepool responded:

"Thank you for the kind words and glad you enjoyed yourself. Happy turning."

Ernest Tse reviewed: ** SPECIAL OFFER ** 10% off - Bladesmithing Experience Day - Wiltshire

"I had an excellent day out, it was a Christmas present from my wife and I will be returning the favor as she was rather jealous! David and Decklan are very knowledgable and patient with everyone, I was asking all sorts of questions and everything was answered clearly and explained at length (busted a few tv myths as well!). We will be booking again for friends and families, I will be looking to book an axe-making course next! I highly recommend The Vlakvark Forge courses!"

Clarke Knives responded:

"I'm glad your day went well - sorry I couldn't be with you - perhaps next time ???"

Ernest Tse reviewed: Bladesmithing Experience Day

"I had an excellent day out, it was a Christmas present from my wife and I will be returning the favor as she was rather jealous! David and Decklan are very knowledgable and patient with everyone, I was asking all sorts of questions and everything was answered clearly and explained at length (busted a few tv myths as well!). We will be booking again for friends and families, I will be looking to book an axe-making course next! I highly recommend The Vlakvark Forge courses!"

Clarke Knives responded:

"I'm glad your day went well - sorry I couldn't be with you - perhaps next time ???"

Shauna reviewed: Introduction to Lino Printing in Cambridgeshire

"Fantastic day of lino printing! I was a complete novice but came away with some lovely prints and the knowledge to do more at home. Judith is a kind, relaxed teacher who really encourages you to follow your own creative instincts. Would HIGHLY recommend."

Russell reviewed: Christmas Candle Making with afternoon tea in East Yorkshire

"Very enjoyable and informative course in a relaxed atmosphere, with an excellent afternoon tea."

Shaun Thomas reviewed: Make a Welsh stick chair

"After the first day I was apprehensive and told my wife not to expect too much. With no greenwood experience it looked like a tough ask to produce any level of quality. By the end of day three I felt I’d already learned so much and was so much more comfortable with the tools and working the wood. I was learning new things every day - all of them useful. To put a cherry on top we have a great hand made chair that I am truly proud of. Despite the amount of work we had to do and the learning curve the whole experience was relaxing, absorbing and invigorating at the same time. Thank you Ben, I hope to join you again next spring to build on all I’ve learned so far."

Shaun Hadley reviewed: Blacksmith Experience Day - Anvil Forge

"Worth every penny. The guys that do all the work are friendly, very approachable and more than happy to help and chat with you as you work and answer any questions you might have. Will definitely be coming back."

Anvil Forge responded:

"Hi Shaun We look forward to you returning and helping you on your next project best wishes John"

Mick Marsh reviewed: Blacksmithing one-to-one North West UK

"Had a fantastic day with Bob, started the day with a brew then moved on to basic skills in the morning to choose something from a file of pictures to make in the afternoon. Bob is highly skilled at his craft and is keen to pass on his wealth of knowledge which he is obviously very proud of, his speed and technique with a hammer and anvil is fascinating to watch which gave me a different insight to how I work. Quote of the day “so Bob have you been doing this all your life ? “ Bob “not yet I haven’t” brilliant day which will give you a totally new appreciation of a blacksmith"

Jon Baggott reviewed: Woodturning Experience Days - Come and spend a day turning your first bowl

"We both enjoyed our first experience of wood turning. The studio is well-equipped, and Stephen makes you welcome from the very start. He shares his knowledge and experience with enthusiasm, but leaves enough space for a bit of one's own creativity to come through."

Bodden Cross Studio responded:

"A great pleasure meeting you both. I look forward to seeing you again soon. Best wishes Stephen"

John reviewed: Peak Blacksmithing Experience days

"It was a great day. Exceeded my expectations, Tim was a brilliant tutor, very patient and explained and demonstrated everything fully so that you felt confident to try for yourself. Full experience of building a fire, fire and heat control, recognising when the work was ready and some of the techniques were well explained. The people were very friendly and the food and drink excellent. I would recemmend this day to everyone."

Linda reviewed: Hare Sculpture workshop with Jo Garden Art in beautiful Norfolk/Suffolk

"A very relaxing day, very well structured and paced, and I am really pleased with my end result."

Jo Garden Art responded:

"Thank you Linda ? Lovely having you all at last Sunday's workshop and was super impressed with your hare sculptures! Jo x"

John reviewed: Etching class

"A nice day in an artistic artist's studio. A small class so lots of personal attention, as well as time to talk about technical details. I learned a lot!! Thanks"

Printmaking with Evelyn Polk responded:

"Thank you for this review. I'm so glad you enjoyed the class and you found it useful. It was a pleasure. Evelyn"

Hannah reviewed: Kate Morrell willow sculpture courses

"I had a great time willow weaving with Kate and others who were on the course that day. I had gone on my own and everyone was very friendly which was great. Kate is very skilled at what she does and seemed to have lots of tips to help us make our designs look good, she clearly is a very talented artist too. We were fortunate with the weather so had a lovely time in the marquee in the beautiful garden. Thanks for a great day ?"

Will Williams reviewed: Two day dry stone walling course at Pensychnant near Conwy, North Wales

"Fancied having a go at dry stone walling for over ten years, my wife got me the course as a gift. The setting was idyllic and the weather held, the course itself was very informative and the course tutor was excellent at explaining and showing us how it was done. Would definitely recommend and would go again. You do need to be reasonably fit and some of the stones are heavy, but the experience was well worth it."

Dry Stone Walling Association North Wales Branch responded:

"Thanks for this review Will. I have passed it onto Iolo. To say some of the stones are heavy is an understatement - they are monsters. I`m glad you enjoyed the course. Paul"

Philip Hunter reviewed: Experience the Japanese art of raku using fire and flame

"Had a lovely day with Janet, Suzanne and Alan. Learnt a lot about Raku. Only six in the group so was able to come home with four lovely pots. Can thoroughly recommend."

Gone To Pot Ceramics responded:

"Thank you so much for your kind review, glad you enjoyed the day. Janet on behalf of the Raku Team"

Neil reviewed: One day welding course: an introduction

"I have to say Julian is a fantastic instructor. Not only did he teach me the basic skills of MIG welding different joints in pretty much every direction and position but also gave great advice on what machines to consider, what PPE to get and and all of the consumables needed. The day was almost all practical with Julian showing me how to then letting me practice until I had the hang of each weld. Thank you for a great day and I hope to come back again for another course."

Florence reviewed: Beach Art North Cornwall

"Awesome experience. I was surprised how quick it was to draw a really big pattern in the sand. I’d love to do more. The location is gorgeous and Bill was a great host."

Liz reviewed: Beach Art North Cornwall

"I booked this for my daughter's art project. Bill tailored it really well for her with some great personalised communication beforehand about what would suit. We had a lovely afternoon on a stunning sunny Polzeath beach. They accomplished quite a few pieces of lovely varied art. Made for great photography too."

Dave Allport reviewed: Green wood stool making weekend

"This was my second course for stool making with Rushmore Farm organised by George. I really enjoyed the experience first time round and was able to share the weekend this time with my adult son so he is also the proud owner of a green wood stool. The course didn’t disappoint us. We were well tutored by Ivan who guided us through the various stages of the construction offering assistance when needed. A creditable stool can be achieved with little or no previous experience. Daily lunch was transported to the site in the woods by chef Mark who cooked the delicious meals too. Our accommodation was a yurt adjacent to the working area in the wood. It was clean tidy and certainly warm. We spent the evening sitting around the campfire on the Saturday night with a glass of wine. Perfect! As I reviewed before a great ‘get away’ weekend with a lovely result to take home afterwards. Highly recommended. Thanks yet again."

Rushmere Farm Workshops responded:

"Thank you so much for your lovely words. We enjoyed the weekend very much and look forward to seeing you again soon."

Jill reviewed: Mosaic Workshop Mixed Media Mosaic Class

"My friend and I spent a relaxing 2 hours making our mixed media mosaics. The tutor was very friendly and explained everything clearly. We were both really happy with the finished tiles."

Richard & Heather Andrew reviewed: Weekend landscape painting in watercolours

"Arriving as complete beginners, Georgina quickly put us at ease. Throughout the course, she was extremely encouraging and explained techniques and thought processes very clearly. By the end, we had produced watercolour paintings that we were proud of and knew how to further improve, indeed; we're already painting new landscapes now we're back home. The course seemed to fly by and we're looking forward to a return visit in the future."

Georgina Rambton responded:

"Thank you Heather, it was an absolute pleasure to have you both on the weekend course and I am so pleased that you enjoyed it and got so much out of it."

Oli reviewed: Stonecarving Weekend, Gloucestershire Cotswolds

"An enormously satisfying and relaxed few days that resulted in a real sense of pride. Sebastian has a perfect hands off style, providing just enough guidance when required to allow you to explore and have fun with your work, with a real passion and knowledge that's infectious. Even if you hate stones you'll still have a lovely few days"

Catherine reviewed: Embroidery/applique kit - 'Home is Where the Heart is'

"I bought two kits and am very pleased with them both They arrived quickly and the instructions were clear and easy to understand I have started the first one and my only problem so far is threading the needle (eye test now booked!) I am looking forward to displaying them when finished"

Zannah reviewed: Seaglass jewellery workshop at Sea & Solder, Dorset.

"Thanks Jules. A nice relaxed session. I was pleased with my ring and learned skills that will be used again in my jewellery making."