Yorkshire spoon carvers turn fallen trees into treasured trinkets

If a tree falls in the woods, you might not hear it. However, if it happens in Yorkshire, there may well be a spoon carver around the corner who is ready to take advantage of the rich pickings.

When Storm Amy hit earlier this month, it certainly left behind plenty of potential material for carving, including an alder tree blown over in Shipley which was spotted by Clive Nutton who then took it along to the Yorkshire Spoon Club.

“There’s a little bit of a joke among spoon carvers and greenwood workers, particularly the ones that live in cities and places where trees are less plentiful: you never walk past the sound of a running chainsaw,” he laughs.

Mr Nutton, an enrichment coordinator at a school in Bradford, has been a member of the Yorkshire Spoon Club for about 10 years and says he could not pass up the opportunity when he walked past the fallen tree.

“I turned up and asked the contractors if I could have some of the wood, and they said, ‘take all of it’.

“So, I took plenty of it and distributed it among my Yorkshire Spoon Club friends.

“It was very happily received and it’s in the process now of being turned into all kinds of lovely things.”

The Yorkshire Spoon Club meets once a month in Ellekers Wood, near Easingwold, in North Yorkshire.

The wood is a 20 acre (eight hectare) planted ancient woodland in North Yorkshire, which is managed by Dan Watson.

Mr Watson, another member of the club, says working amid woodland puts him in a very privileged position.

“I work in woods all the time, so getting timber to use for craft projects is never really much of a challenge for me,” he says.

“But, a lot of the guys and girls who come to Spoon Club don’t have access to timber in the same way. They will literally be listening out as they go about their daily business for the sound of chainsaws.

“Often tree surgeons are removing something that’s dangerous or unwanted for some reason and it just gets chipped up. So, they’re usually only too happy to pass a bit of wood over.”

Ellekers Wood is a coppiced woodland, meaning the trees are repeatedly cut at the base to encourage new, rapid growth from the stumps – meaning plenty of fresh material for Spoon Club members to work on.

When the members of Yorkshire Spoon Club meet, about 20 to 30 of them gather around a fire with their respective craft projects, drinking coffee and beavering away on their new creations.

Mr Nutton says he discovered the club after taking part in a woodworking course.

“Spoons are small items to make, you can make them relatively quickly, they’re portable, and the form of a spoon may seem a very simple thing, but there’s lots of nuances to play with and different forms to create with,” he says.

“My first spoon was more like some kind of bludgeon. But, bit by bit, and the more you practise, the sort of better you get.

“I generally tend to be more happy with my spoons than not, so I’ve got better.”

Mr Nutton says there is “some comfort” in having made something from trees you know and around people you like.

“They’re reflective of a good time spent in the woods with lovely people and reflective of time in nature,” he says.

Meanwhile, Mr Watson adds: “A lot of people have lots of benefits coming from a mental health point of view.

“They might not see many people in their day-to-day life, and it’s just an opportunity to connect with people. So there are many benefits.”