Workshops

The next courses at our studio will be:

Winter (Pre-Vernal) – Working with Coppiced Timber – 7th March

Spring (Vernal) – Working with Natural Paints – 25th April

Summer (Aestival) – Working with Waste Excavation Earth – 20th June

Autumn (Serotinal) – Building with Harvest By-Products (plants) – 26th September

The first walking workshop will be in the South Downs in East Sussex, looking at chalk, flint and lime – 9th May

Course No.1

Late-Winter (Prevernal)
Working with Coppiced Timber

We welcome 12 participants to Local Works Studio’s workshop in the Sussex countryside for a one-day introductory course in working with coppiced Sweet Chestnut and Hazel, including demonstrations and hands-on making.

It will be an immersive day of learning where we will share information, inspire experimental approaches and invite reflection on how traditional methods and crafts might be adapted and applied in the future built environment.

Participants will be introduced to:

• Identification of the main coppice trees and the material properties & constraints of split green timber.
• Ecological & environmental benefits of coppiced timber
• Potential uses of coppiced timber
• Manual harvesting & processing operations – Including how to select suitable stems and cut coppice hazel; and how to prepare & roughly cleave chestnut & hazel
• Basic hand-tools and craft techniques for splitting & shaping green wood
• Methods of fixing and assembling component timber elements
• Experimental approaches to design and making with green wood.

By the end of the day participants will have had a go at cutting and processing green timber into laths, shingles, and split-rods. Together we will assemble these pieces into a decorative screen. Participants will be able to take home smaller pieces that they have worked on.

The workshop will be led by Ben Bosence a designer and building craftsman; Loretta Bosence a landscape architect, researcher and horticulturalist; and Matilda Grover a designer-maker and weaver, working with plant material.

Program for the day:
10am Start
Introductory talk
Walk to the woods
Talk about trees, coppice management & ecology
Coppicing Hazel rods
Talk about Chestnut timber conversion
Processing timber into rough shakes, lath and split-rods
1pm Lunch
Talk about green wood craft & design possibilities
Shaping & finishing shakes & laths
Weaving Hazel rods
Assembling elements into a screen
Reflections
4pm Finish

7th March 2025
10am – 4pm

Price = £220 per person

12 participants maximum

Please follow this link to make a booking:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/working-with-coppiced-timber-tickets-1118864958209?aff=oddtdtcreator

Vegetarian lunch provided – please contact us if you have any dietry requirements

The nearest train station is Cooksbridge (2 miles), with direct trains to London and Lewes. We can pick-up and drop-off from Cooksbridge at 9.40am and 4.15pm. Please email us if you require this lift: [email protected] There is a limited bus service to the village and some car parking at the farm.

Please bring warm clothes, practical footwear and work gloves, as some activities will be outdoors.

This course is open to everyone, including those with no experience of working with wood. We will be teaching a physical process and reasonable hand strength is required.

If you are unable to pay for the course in full, and would like to discuss making 2 stage pre-payments, please email us: [email protected]

Course No.2

Spring (Vernal)
Working with Natural Paints

A one day course at our Sussex studio, including demonstrations and hands-on making.

Inspired by the traditional Scandinavian ‘Falu-Red’ paint, we will be cooking simple ingredients of water, rye flour, linseed oil and pigments, to make paints used to protect exterior softwood timbers such as cladding, fences and sheds.

In this practical workshop, you’ll learn how to cook sample batches of flour paint using a variety of pigments and apply these to secondary construction timber (rough sawn softwoods salvaged from deconstruction) and UK-grown softwoods. Attendees will learn about the history, provenance, and technical performance of this recipe. There will also be opportunities to compare using pigments sourced from plants, waste materials and sub-soils.

We developed these paints for use on a Chelsea garden with Sarah Price in 2023

25th April 2025
10am – 4pm

Price = £220 per person

12 participants maximum

Please follow this link to make a booking:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/working-with-natural-paints-tickets-1217723918019?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

Course No.3

Walking Workshop:
Chalk, flint & lime

A walking workshop to discover how the unique landscape around Lewes enabled Lime production from the Chalk of the South Downs to develop buildings and agriculture across the region. Lewes has some amazing examples of Flint buildings, all constructed using Lime from the local Chalk pits.

Meeting at Lewes railway station at 9.45am, the workshop includes a tour of the Flint buildings in the town and a walk up onto the South Downs to see the historic chalk mines.

We will also be walking through The Phoenix – an area of the town that will be redeveloped from a 7.9 hectare brownfield site into a sustainable neighbourhood made using materials from the bio and geo-region.

The walk will be led by Ben and Loretta Bosence, founders of Local Works Studio. Ben has a background in building repair focussing on Lime and masonry materials. Loretta is a Landscape Architect and will introduce the unique Downland landscape of this region.

The workshop is open to 18 people

This circular walk will be around 5 miles in length and includes a steep hill climb of 120 meters elevation up onto the chalk footpaths of the South Downs.Please wear outdoor clothing and walking shoes suitable for the weather on the day

Bring some water and a cup and we will supply hot drinks and snacks

We will finish back at the Railway station in Lewes at approximately 1pm

9th May 2025
10am – 1pm

Price = £45 per person

18 participants maximum

Please follow this link to make a booking:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-workshop-chalk-flint-lime-tickets-1217829905029?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

Course No.4

Summer (Aestival)
Working with Waste Excavation Earth

This hands-on course will take place at our studio and workshop in East Sussex.

In this practical workshop, you’ll learn how to access, assess, process and use waste excavation materials to create natural plasters, rammed earth, daubs and un-fired bricks. We will explain the process through some of our recent projects, including the Gent waste brick and our Chalk/clay plasters for a house on the South Downs. We will also describe how plant fibre can be added to these materials for particular features.

20th June 2025
10am – 4pm

Price = £220 per person

12 participants maximum

Please follow this link to make a booking:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/working-with-waste-excavation-earth-tickets-1217954487659?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

Course No.5

Autumn (Serotinal)
Working with Harvest By-Products (plants)

A hands-on workshop exploring the use of plant fibre for building structure, insulation and finishes

26th September 2025

10am – 4pm

Price = £220 per person

12 participants maximum

Please follow this link to make a booking:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/building-with-harvest-by-products-plants-tickets-1217978519539?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl