Timber Roundhouse Course - POSTPONED

Over the 9-day course you’ll learn all the skills you need to build your own roundhouse through a live build project.

At the end of the course you’ll stand back proudly with new friends to admire your complete building, facilitating courses for many years to come!

Course Structure

The course will run from Saturday 13th to Sunday 21st of July.

We begin at 9:30am and finish at 5:30pm each day

Lunch is provided within the cost of the course

What you’ll learn

You'll be involved in the whole process of building a roundhouse! It’s a live build, so you’ll get experience making decisions as we go, preparing you for a wide variety of roundwood and sawn timber projects. The course covers:

Planning & Setting out – we’ll plan the reciprocal roof together, and plan out the building’s shape and position

Foundations – digging and filling foundations for the posts and wall, as well as getting the posts exactly level.

Timber preparation – we’ll talk you through how to acquire timber, and then you’ll work preparing the greenwood from felled trees through to ready rafters

Cutting joints – using traditional froes and chisels, we’ll cut roundwood joints.

Raising the roof – the central process, building a reciprocal roundwood roof and fix it in place above posts.

Green roofing – we’ll use local wood for sarking the roof, then grow a green roof that

Dry stone walling – you will learn the traditional dry stone walling technique from local experts, which will make the perimeter wall of the roundhouse.

Discussion sessions – when you have questions, we’ll do our best to research your questions in advance and the group will discuss them together.

You’ll make great friends with the rest of the tight-knit group, and we’ll all learn from one another.

Course Pricing

£870 per person for 9.5 days (includes a £150 non-refundable deposit)

Or £130 per day (£50 deposit)

We take payment via bank transfer - we will send you the payment details after you sign up.

Let us know if you need a flexible payment scheme. We’ll find a staggered plan so that you can make it to the course. Cancellation before June 13th results in a full refund minus deposit, after June 13th is a 50% refund, cancellation within a week of the start date (July 6th) results in no refund.

Prior knowledge

You don’t need to have specialist knowledge, but should have a basic knowledge of hand tools – hammer and nails, handsaws. We’ll show you how to use a froe and chisel and the necessary power tools.

What to bring

Strong boots – we’re working in the woods and with heavy timber

Clothes for all weather – we could get glorious sunshine and showers in the same day.

Your own water bottle – we’ll provide food and drink through the day

We will provide all safety equipment

Location

We're building in ancient woodland at Hollin Bank Farm, with an idyllic view of Coniston Water and the Old Man of Coniston. A swim in the lake is a five minute walk away. Hollin Bank is an organic mixed farm with cattle, sheep, ducks, pigs, geese, chickens, bees and vegetable patches. You'll probably learn a bit about organic farming and woodland regeneration on the side!

Getting here

The course will take place at the Hollin Bank Farm. You can get a train to Windermere, where there are buses to the farm, or we can arrange a group pickup. There is limited parking on-site, but we can arrange off-site parking.

Accommodation

We’re situated in the idyllic Coniston valley, and there are lots of places to stay in the area. Individual rooms can be booked separately at Shepherds Villa in the village (1 mile away) through this link. There are lots of other places to stay nearby, but book in advance.

There is some camping on site (£5 per night per tent), with running water, a fireplace, and a compost toilet.

Food & Drink

We’ll provide lunch, dinner and snacks, so you should arrange your own breakfast. There are a couple of shops in the village you can get supplies from, and supermarkets in Windermere, Kendal, Ulverston and Barrow. We'll be in touch soon and can discuss any dietary requirements then.

Course Leaders

The course will be led by Will, Wilf and Ben:

Wilf has a PhD in timber mechanics. Ben is a spoon carver and works with green wood. Ben and and Will run a natural building and landscaping business. Between them, you’ll learn everything you need to design, plan and build your own roundhouse!

We can’t wait for you to join the build!