What is it about this show? We do shows in the middle of June and get soaked and blown away but come the first Sunday in September we always seem to have clear, dry and bright sun as was the case this year. As usual, the Woodlanders had their normal pitch in front of the water pumps and the brand new Limeburner's Restaurant. The Wood from the Trees show is always well attended by Woodlanders and this year was no different.

We managed to easily fill our pitch. There were 2 pole-lathers, Brian and Malcolm, who managed to keep going all day despite the very warm weather. The sales table was well manned and, considering the very warm sunshine which was more conducive to spending a day on a beach, we did very well. I myself embarked upon making something which I had never made before - a gate about 6 ft by 6 ft. Having measured the hole I was hoping it to fill, I sketched it out and bundled up the wood, I then started to make it. The first job was to strip off the bark from the 7 ft rods, all 8 of them, plus a further two 6 ft posts for the side. This generated a huge amount of shavings!

However, I did not need to worry about clearing them up, as a lady was more than happy to take them away for her pupils to use in making bonfire pictures later in the autumn. The gate was finally assembled and it looked just the part, and yes of course, it did fit! It did, however, cause much wonderment as to how I was going to transport it on my car, but it was well strapped on and I did take the precaution of Brian driving behind me just in case it should decide to fly off.  

I think that everyone agreed that yet again, despite the very early start, Amberley was a very enjoyable show. It gives us all a chance to demonstrate the various crafts and activities that the group carries out, and it is also a good opportunity for us to catch up with our fellow exhibitors.

- by Christopher Burchell Collins

For more information on this and other events at the museum see the website: www.amberleymuseum.co.uk