When Christian Gaze and I started Gaze Burvill 31 years ago, we had a vision of creating a beautiful collection of outdoor furniture using entirely oak grown in the UK. I was inspired by my one-year course at John Makepeace’s Hooke Park in Dorset where I had learnt about the necessity of adding value to British-grown woods to feed a virtuous cycle of growing and improving our woodlands.
Today Woodland Heritage announces a £238,442 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to create ‘Woodland Heritage Skills’; two years of educational workshops, digital educational assets and collaboration with its members and partners to deliver the charity’s new Open Woods & Workshops initiative.
Nick Wright describes his work at the Snowdon School of Furniture which started as a one-week summer school, the brainchild of David Snowdon and Carmel Allen, Linley’s then creative director, to celebrate 30 years of Linley Furniture and give something back to support student makers.
Hailing from Utah in the US, Justin Davies, most widely known as JustinTheTrees, has brought wood culture to hundreds of millions by sharing his adventures with trees and timber. John Orchard speaks with Justin about the concept of species loneliness, the taste of sassafras ice cream and the intense optimism found in bringing people closer to nature.
Woodland Heritage’s Woodland To Workshops course provides attendees with an overview of our wood culture: from the woodland to the workshop. Three days: one in the woodland, one in the workshop, one at the sawmill.
The 2025 course was the the 30th Woodland to Workshop course run by Woodland Heritage. Attendance has increased to 24, allowing us to share knowledge with a wide group of students.
When Christian Gaze and I started Gaze Burvill 31 years ago, we had a vision of creating a beautiful collection of outdoor furniture using entirely oak grown in the UK. I was inspired by my one-year course at John Makepeace’s Hooke Park in Dorset where I had learnt about the necessity of adding value to British-grown woods to feed a virtuous cycle of growing and improving our woodlands.
On Thursday, 2nd April 2026, the charity Woodland Heritage launched Open Woods & Workshops, a network of woodlands and workshops hosting open days across the UK throughout June 2026. The initiative enables over 1,000 attendees to see first-hand the role trees and timber can have in our future.
From Aberfeldy, Scotland, down to Dorset, England, there are forestry estates and woodlands, scientists and sawmills, artists and architects, furniture factories, makers and beyond. Some spaces are open to visitors all day. Other places will host small group tours.
Open Woods & Workshops visitors can see one of the world’s largest climate change experiments, go behind the scenes with world-famous furniture makers, walk with foresters through ancient and productive woodlands, learn about growing timber for cricket bats, and glimpse the future of trees and timber with design, making and forestry educators.
Hosts include: Duchy of Cornwall, John Makepeace Furniture, the Architectural Association at Hooke Park, Gaze Burvill, The King's Foundation - Snowdon School of Furniture, Hulls Mill Farm, Goldfinger, Another Country, Young & Norgate, OTZI, North Eggardon Farm, Broomhill Woods, Katie Walker Furniture, English Woodlands Timber, Matthew Cox, Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, Cothelstone Estate, National Trust Ashridge, Treske, Whitney Sawmills, Angus Ross, Glandy Cross Wood, Artichoke, Joss Stoddart, James Wood, Williams & Cleal furniture school, West's of East Dean, Hazel Woodland Products, Albion Timber, National Trust Wallington, King & Webbon, Crutchley Farms, Great Park, Alder and South Sowdens Woods and Trefusis Estate!
Thanks to
National Lottery players
Open Woods & Workshops is part of the Woodland Heritage Skills project and is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to conserve and promote sustainable productive woodland management skills in the UK. The project strengthens the skills, networks, supply chains and processes required for a thriving UK wood culture, whilst raising awareness of the risks of losing these skills, and the benefits of upscaling them.
The charity’s Chief Executive, John Orchard said: “By showcasing sustainable productive woodland and workshops the initiative highlights the critical need for homegrown timber, more productive woodland and the preservation of vital skills, jobs and places.”
Although the importance of planting trees and protecting ancient woodlands has been accepted by many, the importance of growing trees and using our homegrown timber is less well understood. The fact that the UK is the second largest net importer of forest products in the world1 whilst huge areas of our woodlands lie unmanaged2, is a huge missed opportunity for our response to climate change.
John concluded: “The stakes for future generations are high and we must act now! So I am endlessly grateful to National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the truly amazing hosts and to Gaze Burvill and the initiative’s other matched funders.”
Find an event near you in June 2026 by clicking below.
Today Woodland Heritage announces a £238,442 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to create ‘Woodland Heritage Skills’; two years of educational workshops, digital educational assets and collaboration with its members and partners to deliver the charity’s new Open Woods & Workshops initiative.
