Going against the grain

Conjuring up oak beams, country chairs, and garden trellises out of raw materials from his workshop on the forest floor Ben Harris believes in creating beautiful things which stimulate the senses and leave no mark on the planet.

"When you work in a wood in this way you are clearing trees that are going nowhere to make room for fresh re-growth.

I work on green wood, mostly on the forest floor so there is no need to transport the wood long distances, no need for high-energy machinery.

Because I go with the grain of the wood I can use cracked or split timber others couldn't make use of.

Every part of the tree goes to good use, nothing is wasted."

The child of an artist and a teacher, the 24-year-old craftsman stumbled upon woodwork by chance, thousands of miles away in Africa.

"I was travelling about and I met this fellow who said he wanted to teach people how to make drums.

He had a beautiful little small-holding out in the bush where he grew fruit.

I went there and he taught me how to carve out these drums using traditional methods using really basic tools, just an axe and a chisel made from an old crowbar."

The former art student was smitten.

"I love painting but haven't picked up a paintbrush since," he said.

"The feel of wood is special and each type of wood smells different.

Because I work with untreated wood you get the smell of the sap as you work."

Besides creating large oak structures for gardens such as woodsheds and awnings, Ben also creates small pieces from hazel, ash, birch and cherry wood such as trellises, penny whistles, gypsy flowers, which smell of fresh wood sap, and smooth wooden spoons.

" People love the things I make because they appeal to all the senses.

They are hand made, individual things.

I feel as if I put a part of myself into everything I make because it is something I enjoy doing.

My mind is on the task.

You have to put your body into it too."

His wood comes from two coppices - Rayrigg Wood, Windermere, and Chapel House Wood, Newby Bridge, where he thins the wood in exchange for his timber at a small fee.

"I would love to see coppices used in the Lakes the way they used to be used.

Many have been lost through over grazing or neglect.

But this type of wood is a sustainable resource with a low impact on the environment and a natural habitat for wildlife."

Blonde and wholesome-looking in his moss coloured trousers and muddy boots, he looks like he was born with an axe in his hand.

"My parents were part of the back-to-the-land movement.

We had a small-holding in Somerset where I grew up in a run-downfarm house.

They were very worried about the environment, nuclear power.

We grew our own veg and that sort of thing."

But it was his time spent at environmentalist and former green councillor Edward Ackland's Burneside home that set the seal on Ben's future occupation.

"Working with Edward was a really formative experience.

I learned a lot there about how land works, about wildlife and about animals and where everything comes from.

It is easy to go to a supermarket and buy something but when you realise what it takes to make milk or cheese it means a lot more.

That is what I love about what I do.

You get to experience the joy of being in the wood, cutting down trees that make way for re-growth.

Working with the grain, hearing the rhythm of the axe."

And as for the future, Ben hopes to branch out into more large-scale commissions and put down some roots.

"I have fallen in love with the Lake District," he said.

To contact Ben phone 015394-43748.