This was an excellent choice of course for me as I work with hand tools, and I felt that my skills levels and knowledge had really been raised enormously after the week with John.

A superb course taught by John who is a excellent teacher and obviously extremely experienced. He made learning the basics of woodworking really fun and enjoyable. I learnt loads and feel so much more confident with the plane, saw and chisel. The supply of delicious cakes and biscuits also helped to keep energy levels up for the entire two days.

I really liked the in depth knowledge the course gave me and the confidence through the practical work to carry out projects of my own. Additionally the relaxed attitude that carried throughout the week.

Having not done anything like this before, I feel I learnt a great deal. From the first morning until the final hour new skills and techniques were being shown and valuable knowledge passed on. I enjoyed John’s thorough teaching approach and feel he probably covered more detail than anyone else could possibly fit into one week – things like; steel types, different kinds of oil, sharpening angles, blade steepness etc. All valuable info that I’d not really given much thought to previously. The workshop itself was a great place to be for the necessarily long days we spent there. Light and airy with plenty of good quality tools (and cake) to try. I also enjoyed looking around the other workshops a great deal. Seeing what everyone was up to was quite inspiring.

It was good to have so much hands-on time, and the (very) small group and relaxed environment meant we were able to have practical demonstration as an answer to many questions.

The knowledge and the way information was put across by John standout but the all round atmosphere was excellent. Please move to Carlisle so you are closer. To be honest it is the best week I have had.

John is a very good teacher. I really liked the attention to detail, the focus on technique, and the comprehensive approach to understanding the tools and how they worked. The projects were well-judged, with the right balance of challenge and achievability.

Open and friendly instruction, well structured and extremely well organised.

Having zero woodworking skills I amazed myself with what I achieved after only five days – all credit to John for his excellent teaching. The small class gives everyone lots of one to one time with John. I arrived with a piece of firewood and went home with a beautifully restored 19th century chair. Everything was spot on!

An excellent course with every opportunity to ask a full range of questions.