Mike Abbott

For 30 years I have been running green woodwork courses and writing books on the subject. My main ambition is to enable as many people as possible to share in the delights of engaging fully with woodlands, trees and wood.

Website: living-wood.co.uk

Diary 2015

For twenty years the pole-lathe was the mainstay of my career and ever since that first tentative treadle I was amazed by its magical appeal, not only to the turner but to anyone who was to see it in action. For years I struggled to put my finger on what it is that makes the pole lathe such a magical machine. And then it dawned on me. The motion of the pole-lathe encapsulates the very essence of life.

Life is rhythm, rhythm is life. This truth has been expressed in different ways by different people. What goes up must come down. To each and every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The concept of Yin and Yang.

Such a rhythm is felt in the heartbeat, it is heard in music, it is seen in day and night, the seasons and the tides. No wonder that the pole-lathe is such a deeply satisfying and therapeutic way to work with wood.