RURAL SKILLS EXHIBITION AND COURSES AT COLESHILL

Once Easter is over, it can be difficult trying to find somewhere interesting to go with something different to do.

A pre-bookable tour of the historic farm, now Heritage & Rural Skills Centre, at the National Trust Buscot & Coleshill Estate (Coleshill) takes place on Thursdays and Saturdays every week in the afternoon from Thursday April 18, and explores the legacy of the farm and bygone creative people who made their homes on the Coleshill Estate and the craftspeople of today who now work from studios on the Estate keeping rural heritage skills alive. 

One of the biggest draws for visitors to Coleshill is the Heritage & Rural Skills Centre showcasing a number of expert craftspeople who can teach beginners – and those more adept – the skills that created and restored great houses and estates like Coleshill.

You can start a new hobby or increase your knowledge about bygone heritage conservation skills via a beginner’s, intermediate or more advanced course on blacksmithing, plain lime plastering, ornamental lime plastering, wood carving, letter cutting in stone or in wood, weaving and more. 

Some of the courses have already sold out, but extra courses will be added to meet the high demand for these educational skills. Have a look on the website to find a course that is available to suit you: https://tinyurl.com/2p8bmdsa.  

Tom Ball is an Award-winning expert craftsman and a Lead Woodcarving Lecturer at City and Guilds of London Art School. He holds workshops in woodcarving and letter cutting as well as more advanced wood carving and lettering skills.

The National Trust Buscot & Coleshill Estate will also be holding Village Open Days starting on April 14 from 2pm-5pm and on the second Sunday of each month thereafter. The Open Days will include access to the hidden histories of Coleshill including the replica WW2 underground bunker, where visitors get a chance to see how Britain’s secret army would have lived should an invasion have taken place. 

Coleshill is within easy local reach of Faringdon, Highworth, Lechlade and Swindon and, for a delightful day out, not too far from Cheltenham, Gloucester, Marlborough, Oxford or Reading.