Recently I have moved my stickmaking activities to a local farm owned by a good freind of mine. I needed more room to store my supplies as well as more room to make more mess!
Here are a few pictures of the processes involved, and some general shots of me making sticks from a recent photo shoot we did at the stickery! Enjoy…
I will have many sticks available soon so please sign up and get Email, Twitter or Facebook alerts when they become available.
I had an email the other day from a gent who had a couple of Roe Deer antlers and wanted a couple of sticks made, one for him and one for his father. He sent me a picture of the antlers which I thought would be fine for stick tops so he sent them to me in the post.
With a couple of engraved collars fitted with the gents initials on I sent the sticks off just in time for the fathers Birthday! The son then wrote to me telling me how delighted his father was with his gift.
What a great idea for a father and son to have a stick each with antlers from the same animal. I am always happy to make sticks for people who have the material for the tops subject to seeing it. Please get in touch with your requirements and send a photo of your antler / stick top to lordscountrysticks@gmail.com
Here are a few images of my most recently made stick. A lovely Rams Horn crook on a premium grade hazel shank now used on a daily basis by a shepherd in Wiltshire to look after his large flock of sheep. Fitted with a copper collar for added strength when catching those get away sheep!
I have a short waiting list for shepherds crooks at present but please feel free to email me as I can sometimes get my hands on some from other stick makers or please feel free to look at my other sticks I have in stock.
I have added a new page today to my website showing my current selection of sticks available. Please click here to see them.
I will be running a series of stick making workshops in South Oxfordshire, near Watlington in the summer months. The course will be a day long from about 10 – 5 and in that time you will be able to make your own walking stick either with a wooden top or antler top.
The course will be £100 to include lunch and your materials. Your stick should be finished by the end of the day or almost finished and you will be able to take it home with you.
Maximum of 2 delegates per course.
Please email me at lordscountrysticks@gmail.com and we can look at suitable dates.
The raw material - red deer antler
Walnut handle and hazel shank to become a crook
3 finished antler sticks
2 nice crooks ready for market
These are just a few choices of what you could make on the course. It’s basic stick making ( thats all I can currently teach you!) but you will walk away with a nice stick, that’s for sure!
Please get in touch if interested.
Not for the faint hearted this post and apologies for any offence caused.
My sister in law, Sarah breeds a variety of sheep on her farm. When her Balwen Ram was due to go to the wolly cloud in the sky she kept his horns back as she wanted to do something special with them as a momento of his life on the farm.
Sarah asked me if I could fit it to a stick for her to use but with strict instruction not to over do the sanding on the horn as she didn’t want to lose its character. So here is the result of one of the horns – she now uses it daily to help round up his off spring!
If you have the some antler or horn you would like cleaned up and fitted to a stick please do get in touch – I always fancy a challenge!
I had an email from a lady looking for an antler wading staff for her husband. She wanted it to be a really special gift for him and ask for me to fit it with a silver disc with his initials on and also a 924 silver collar. I got the relevant materials from my suppliers and set about making the stick. I used a nice strong hazel shank to give him maximum support in the water and fitted a good sheet of lead to the base to give weight to the staff and to prevent it from floating away in the water. The stick was also longer than a normal thumb stick to aid assistance in deep water. The bottom of the stick was fitted with a rubber ferrule to prevent frightening the fish as a brass ferrule would make too much noise underwater. Finally the bottom was wrapped in plastic shrink-wrap to keep it all looking good and waterproofing the base.
The antler top was capped with buffalo horn as requested by my customer making this a really special gift for her man. Finally it had several coats of linseed oil to the shank and wax to the antler giving the stick a waterproofing. This can be redone once a season to keep the stick in tip-top condition.
Here are a few images of the stick
…and my happy customer’s comment to me after Christmas
Due to various farmers markets and craft markets I only have a few sticks left for 2011. If you are looking for something unique for a family member or friend then sticks make great gifts! Have a browse of the gallery below and please contact me through lordscountrysticks@gmail.com if you require further information on any of the sticks. I can shorten any sticks to order but unfortunately have not yet learnt how to lengthen them!! Prices from £25 to £120 P+P £5 UK
Come and see many local crafts people including myself at the Cuxham Christmas Market held in the village hall and Church this coming Saturday. Open 10-3 giving you plenty of opportunity to find some unique Christmas presents for your family and friends.
Address – Cuxham Village Hall, Cuxham, Oxfordshire, OX49 5NG
Cuxham Village Hall Website
The Holy Rood church in cooler times!
Current stock as of 14th November, please enquire for further details lordscountrysticks@gmail.com
Lord's Country Sticks 