Do you dream of building your own home and wonder about off-grid living? Then join us for a two-week practical course in West Dorset.

In this hands-on course we will build a small house structure in local timber and make it weatherproof using corrugated roofing, natural-fibre insulation, and wooden cladding.

You will have a go at the various tasks involved in studwork, insulation, fitting windows and doors, cladding and roofing. You will be guided in the use of both hand and power tools. Alongside the building work we will talk about the design process and reflect on how you might decide to build your own. The course intends to build your skillset in no-waste production of affordable housing – while you have a good time. Everyone can do it.

By the end of the course participants will have explored all the basic elements of creating a tiny house, including:

• Basic building design and understanding the advantages of different layouts
• Building a simple studframe for a building that fits a 2.5 m x 5.4 m trailer.
• Sourcing and installing cladding and insulation
• Sourcing and Installing windows and doors
• Building a simple roof
• Using hand and powertools safely and working as a team.
• Making informed choices about power and energy systems.

As a part of the course special guests will deliver sessions on issues around sustainable Tinyhouse living such as energy and water-use, planning and community building. Guests include:

Victor Crutchley will take us for a walk through his woods at North Eggardon Farm. He will talk about the diversity of the woodland environment, his way of growing trees for timber and explain what is involved in timber processing. www.northeggardoncarthouse.co.uk

Pat Bowcock from Ourganics – Evolving Systems will share experiences from her life in off- grid permaculture. Pat is one of the leading lights in permaculture design teaching and is a great guide in the principals of People Care, Fair Share and Earth Care. www.learnpermaculture.com/ourganics-evolving-systems

Chris Rudge who since 2006 has advised and installed Off Grid power for people and organisations in need of it, will share his knowledge on various sustainable energy systems to heat and power your Tinyhouse. www.offgridsystems.co.uk

The course is run in collaboration with Tim Crabtree of Dorset Woodhub and Wessex Community Assets (WCA)and is part of the Raise the Roof project. It will be led by designer, maker and constructor Karen Hansen.

Karen Hansen has worked in design and make with natural materials in West Dorset for 25 years and her experience in construction is based on carpentry, traditional timber-framing and strawbale building. After reconnecting with her danish roots she now works with material culture in education and to establish communal work practices that enable local action for sustainable living. The structure is built to her design and she is covering all material cost involved. www.karenhansen.co.uk

The practical details

The day program will run from 9.30 – 17.00 and be at a pace where you can both be active and have time to reflect.

Week 1: 26-30. July with guest speaker Victor Cruthcley and Pat Bowcock

• You will learn about the woodland environment and be introduced to timber growing and selection for construction uses.
• We will make the panel structures for the house, erect them and carry on with the roof.
• We hope to celebrate with a topping out ceremony.

Week 2: 23-27. August with guest speaker Chris Rudge and Pat Bowcock

• You will learn about sustainable material choices and consider circular economic solutions.
• We will install the windows and doors and the structure will be insulated and made weatherproof.
• We will line the interior, making it ready for fitting out and talk about energy systems to run the home.
• We will celebrate and relax.

Course Fee

The course fee is £720 for both weeks and will cover lunch and all tools and building materials. You also have the option to join us for a single week at £420. We recommend you come equipped with safety boots.

To apply, please email training@wessexca.co.uk

Places are limited, but feel free to get in touch even if you can’t afford the fee. We are working at finding ways to offer bursaries.

Site and Accommodation

The course will take place in Nettlecombe near Powerstock.

You can camp for free in the nearby cider orchard. Alternatively, you can choose to pay to stay at Ourganics in Litton Cheney (hot showers, kitchen facilities) or in one of the Shepherds huts at North Eggardon Farm. Please enquire for further details: training@wessexca.co.uk

WCA was founded in 2005 and is a community benefit society run by locally-based practitioners who help social enterprises in Devon, Dorset and Somerset to access land, finance and other resources. It was a key organisation in the development of community land trusts in the UK and has supported over 100 community enterprises in fields such as local food, renewable energy, employment workspace and affordable housing. The focus is now develop a training programme in sustainable construction, that will enable people to engage in the design and practical building of their own homes.

This course is run as a follow on from the Tiny House Course of 2020 which was held at North Eggardon Farm. 14 Dorset based unemployed  people who was offered free training in sustainable construction joined forces with the tutors Karen Hansen, James McLellan and Victor Cructhley to build a Tiny house which is now on its way to be erected as a dwelling for a homeless person in Somerset. 

Tim Crabtree- developer of research and innovation within WCA is coordinating the Raise the Roof partnership with Common Ground, The Arts Development Company, Dorset Woodhub and Bridport Town Council, and the project was fortunate to secure funding from the Golden Bottle Trust, Dorset AONB and Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (the latter provided funds from the Education & Skills Funding Agency matched by the European Social Fund) to start off  the process of prototyping initial designs and testing local supply chains. www.wessexca.co.uk/2020/11/raise-the-roof. The Raise the Roof project are developing further pilot projects and training programmes which are under way for later in the year. www.raisetheroof.info

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TINY HOUSE, DORSET 

The free training course for unemployed people introduces participants to sustainable construction, and basic timber and carpentry skills, through the building of a ‘tiny house’.

This programme is linked to the Raise the Roof project, that has involved local organisations such as Bridport Town Council, Common Ground and the Arts Development Company working with the architects Assemble Studio. The aim is to develop the infrastructure to enable the building of affordable housing using sustainable materials grown in Dorset. The tiny house course acts as a pilot and creates an opportunity to prototype new designs and work processes. When completed, the tiny house will be donated to a homelessness charity to provide accommodation for an entrenched rough sleeper.

The course is taking place in a workspace provided by local farmer Victor Crutchley in West Dorset, with timber sourced and processed from his own woodlands. The skills learned on the course will be applicable to a wide range of contexts, from sustainable construction, to joinery such as doors and windows, to designing and making furniture. The course will include a basic introduction to building design, as well as forestry and timber processing . 14 Dorset-based people will join the team of builders and course tutors that include furniture designer and constructor Karen Hansen, carpenter James McClennan and sawyer Adrian Janssen. The project coordinator, Tim Crabtree, is the founder of several local social enterprises including Dorset’s farmers’ markets, the Local Food Links school meals service, Dorset Community Energy, and Bridport Area Development Trust.

www.raisetheroof.info

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I am currently working in the Testlaboratory at Sydhavn Recycling Centre i København, Danmark.

The challenge I have set myself is to develop circular economy projects and explore material-lifecycles.

www.sydhavngenbrugscenter.kk.dk

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The Animal Totem was created through working with all the children in Eastover Primary School, Bridgewater. Based on their drawings of the class animals, the children worked with woodcut and print. Their work was drawn up and carved on to the Sweet Chestnut pole. The pole is now part of the school playground where it stands as a symbol for creative collaboration.

The project was supported by SPAEDA and InspirED

www.spaeda.org.uk      www.inspiredsomerset.org.uk

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Contemporary Applied Arts presents Colour Theory, a kaleidoscopic selection of exquisite decorative and functional hand-crafted objects to celebrate spring.

This is the first in a series of showcases and exhibitions celebrating CAA ‘s 70th anniversary year, in which the gallery will focus on the innate harmony between the work of all their maker members and on the non-hierarchical approach of showing remarkable objects of varying materials and styles side by side, which is so characteristic of the multi-disciplinary organisation.

www.caa.org.uk

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B-Chair is made from fresh Dorset green roundwood poles which are split, shaped and airdried. After this initial drying the back components are planed into taper and steambent . This process allows me to use young trees and thinnings from local woodlands in sustainable management. The wood is part dried during the steaming process and the final drying is done in a kiln without waste. All prepared components are assembled with the Somerset Lime seat-boards. These seat boards are machined using CNC router and finished by hand. The chair is sealed with hardwax oil which is easy to maintain.

B-Chair can be used with A-table or any other table of your choice.

Beautifully comfortable an available to order.

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MAKING DORSET – WINTERSHOW

The new version of the B-Chair has been made from Ash harvested at Prime Coppice in Dorset. The roundwood poles were split, shaped, steambent, dried, reshaped and assembled with the Somerset Lime seat-boards.

The chair will be on show at Bridport Arts Centre as part of the winter selection of work by 50 Dorset Makers

Open Tues-Sat 10am-4pm

Bridport Artscentre

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Celebrating Creativity across the South West.

The exhibition is the fourth in a series that began in 2008, showing judged and selected entries of work from the best of four categories in Painting & Drawing, Photography & Digital Media, Sculpture and Applied Arts.

The show is designed to highlight and support the creativity across the arts and is hosted by Bridport Arts Centre.

Open daily, 10am-4.00pm, closed Sunday and Monday

Free entry

www.bridport-arts.com

www.marshwoodawards.com

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MAKE ROOM – CONTEMPORARY HEIRLOOMS

MAKE ROOM features traditional and contemporary furniture by award-winning Devon Guild Members and explores the processes of their making as well as influences, inspirations and practices.This furniture exhibition is a much anticipated biennial fixture in the Riverside Gallery programme.

Open daily, 10am-5.30pm, Riverside Gallery. Free entry.

www.crafts.org.uk

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The best new work from Devon Guild of Craftsmen Members.

Every summer, the Jubilee Gallery plays host to their annual Members’ exhibition. The show provides an opportunity for the Devon Guild membership to create new and exciting work, highlighting some of the best contemporary craft from across the South West. The work on display is selected by a panel of Members and independent panelists.

Main Gallery. Open daily, 10am-5.30pm. Free

www.crafts.org.uk

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