Picnic at the Tees Valley Willow Plot

On the 1st of June, the Tees Valley basketry group met at Thornton Grange Farm.

Barbara, one of our members, gave a talk and brought some examples of willow and paper lanterns she had made with schoolchildren, for festivals, etc.*

We then walked to our leader, Jane Chapman’s willow plot. It was exciting to see the willow growing.

It was a lovely day. We had all brought packed lunches for a picnic, and our host, Jane Chapman, provided tea/coffee and cake.

Some members of the Northumbria Basket group joined us, and it was nice to meet other willow crafters.

Penny Stonehouse

Thank you to Jane for hosting a lovely day at your farm and welcoming those of us from outside the Tees Valley group. As Penny said, meeting new, like-minded folk is always good. 

Lorraine Griffiths

* Barbera has worked on lanterns at carnivals and festivals nationwide and even travelled to Beijing before the Olympics with a team demonstrating English-style lanterns.