watersidewoodcarvers – carving made fun

About Us

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, activity is currently restricted to fortnightly carve ins. Next social a club picnic on 19 Aug. See Events diary for details.

Waterside Woodcarvers takes its name from the area where the New Forest meets the western edge of Southampton Water. It was formed in 1983 and has about 30 members ranging from complete beginners to highly skilled carvers.

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Cups of tea

Tons of wood chips

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Carvings in progress

What we do

We carve fortnightly on Thursday evenings, 7pm-9pm at Applemore College during term time. We use their fully equipped workshop and provide all the necessary tools to get started.

Quarterly social meetings are also held, at St Andrews Church Hall, Dibden Purlieu – on Friday evenings or Saturday afternoons. These give an opportunity for members to get together socially with visiting speakers, demonstrations and other activities. See calendar for details.

The club holds exhibitions of its members’ work and ‘carve-ins’ where everyone is welcome to come along and see carvers in action and find out more about the club.

Portfolio

Here are some recent activities and projects our group have been working on

Membership

Open to anyone 16 years and over:

Beginners are welcome.

Waterside Woodcarvers membership: £10 per year, non-carvers £6.

Visitors to social events £2 per event.

Carving workshops at Applemore College: fees per term vary and include membership of Waterside Woodcarvers.

Details of members are stored safely and will only be used in the administration of the club. They will not be shared with any third party or other organisation.

Autumn term 2019
£24.00

Spring term 2020
£21.00

Summer term 2020
£21.00

Beginners

There’s no need to buy lots of expensive tools. We encourage you to use the club tools until you are sure you want to continue woodcarving and by then will have a better idea of what tools suit you and your budget.

When you start you are given everything you need to start a simple first carving. With lots of advice, support and encouragement from our more experienced members you will soon learn the basic skills.

Bit and Pieces

On Thursday evenings, there are opportunities to buy items such as abrasives and small tools, to browse books and magazines for inspiration and discuss your ideas over a cuppa.

Abranet 70mm x 125mm abrasive sheet 80 grit, 180 grit, 320 grit: all 55p each
Wood – price as marked
Taxidermist’s black glass eyes – 2mm 3mm 4mm = £1.00 pair, 5mm 6mm = £1.20 pair

There is an annual club trophy, awarded by members to a carving of any type or wood. In addition there is a fun ‘wood block challenge’ where members start with identical blocks of lime wood and carve something of their choice based on an agreed theme.

Events

View all of our events on our easy to use calender

View Our Events

Weblog

Having held our woodcarving workshops based at Oak Lodge School for several happy years, we have now moved – just a few yards – to Applemore College. Carving workshops are still from 7pm to 9pm but are now more frequent – every fortnight. See the event calendar for dates. Beginners always very welcome. There is usually a break about 8pm for tea or coffee and a biscuit. The termly fee covers the cost of hiring the room. Additional socials and outings are organised from time to time.

This is a very friendly and supportive group, run by a small committee. Loads of help and advice if you need it. Magazines to borrow if you are looking for inspiration -or just walk around the workshop and see what others are working on.

If you are wondering about having a go at carving, come and visit us at a workshop to find out more about the club. You can also find us at the Dibden Purlieu Horticultural Show in July, Beaulieu Countryside Show in August and at our very own Annual Exhibition – in 2021 on Saturday 18th September at St Andrews Church hall, Dibden Purlieu, 3-5pm.

Current committee members:

Chair: Di Smith
Treasurer: Diane White
Pippa Smith
Roger Elliott
Maggie Port
Kaili Patel
Trish Sayers
Paul Humphriss

Chairmen:

Oct 1983 J. Edinborough (Acting)

Sep 1986 C. W. Kocher

Feb 1989 P. Reynolds

Feb 1991 P. Humphriss

Feb 1994 R. Colebrook

Feb 1998 C. Wicks (Acting)

Feb 2000 C. Wicks

Feb 2001 R. Colebrook

Feb 2010 R. Elliott

Sep 2020 D. Smith

Take a look at our quarterly newsletter here

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