Conversation

Embed this notice

HebrideanHecate (hebrideanhecate@spinster.xyz)'s status on Sunday, 29-Dec-2024 07:46:13 JST

HebrideanHecate

in reply to

@TriptychTwinsRidesAgain @BILLSan345 I have never tried it. Is it difficult?

Embed this notice

Flick ?? (flick@spinster.xyz)'s status on Sunday, 29-Dec-2024 07:46:13 JST

Flick ??

in reply to

@HebrideanHecate @TriptychTwinsRidesAgain @BILLSan345 Yes!

Although my old tutor made it look easy, he just breathed on it exactly right and poof perfection. He’s learnt as an apprentice, though, and the cuffed ears were an incentive to get it right.

Embed this notice

HebrideanHecate (hebrideanhecate@spinster.xyz)'s status on Sunday, 29-Dec-2024 07:46:13 JST

HebrideanHecate

in reply to

@Flick @TriptychTwinsRidesAgain @BILLSan345 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyp59n4d34o

Craftsman Scot AnSgeulaiche weaves together a roof with broom and heather handpicked from just outside Muthill in Perthshire.

He's one of the last Highlands and Islands style thatchers in Scotland.

"We have somewhere in the region of a couple of hundred thatched properties in the Highlands and Islands style," he said. "You could decide that they're not at all historically culturally valuable and we could just put them down to slates and tin or you could say that's part of our culture and we do think it's valuable. I happen to think it is."

Thatching is one of a number of critically endangered crafts and he's currently working with a group from Historic Environment Scotland showing them the skills from the past to make sure they have a future.

The warning from Heritage Crafts is that the skills and knowledge of these crafts could be lost if they are not passed on to the next generation of makers. They have been funding training and raising awareness to make sure this doesn't happen.

Orkney chairmaking is on the endangered list.

Kevin Gauld makes traditional Orkney chairs as well as other pieces of traditional Orkney furniture.