Join us for a weekend of reconnection to craft, iron ore smelting, heritage farming, biodiverse land, traditional home life and local history. Including the Glenravel Furnace Festival, see smelters from all corners take iron ore from the Glenravel hills, build mud furnaces from the earth under our feet and smelt iron using the ancient method

Folk Wisdom - Our way back, is about inspiring and engaging our community to celebrate the old ways and in doing so, to reimagine a healthy and sustainable future. It incorporates the six strands of CRAFT: hands on traditional skills and cottage industries, FARM: heritage farming crops, breeds and methods, HOME: traditional property restoration skills, LAND: care for our environment, undoing decades of damage, LIFE: rediscovering the natural health and social wellbeing of a simpler time and STORY: capturing the history of the places, people and activities we discover along the way.

Smelting iron from iron ore is up there with discovery of fire and invention of the wheel in terms of the progression of humanity, so much so there was an entire era of history (The Iron Age) named after it! Foundational to every strand of Folk Wisdom, from the tools for the craft, the implements for the farm, the materials for the buildings and pots for inside them. The Glenravel Furnace Festival, will pay fitting tribute to that heritage, right in the heart of what was once the centre of iron ore mining in the North of Ireland. Read about the success of last years Glenravel International Furnace Festival here: https://www.facebook.com/TenthGlenHeritageFarms/posts/pfbid022mZGhqXsxVFgZ5zW7WRgzQVfBnMn4zpypgyVE3WhRTTH4GhJYRhCxj81vt6gWBzYl

Call in between 11am and 4pm on Saturday 31st May or Sunday 1st June to see this ancient skill in action

Over the weekend we will host a selection of hands on  skills and crafts workshops with expert crafts people. You will learn basic principles and skills, get hands on with the tools and materials and maybe even create your first of many crafted items to take home with you. Read more about these workshops below. With limited spaces, click the 'Book My Place' button now to pre-book tickets and secure your place. Workshops restricted to over 16s only.

Not just ready to get hands on? Don't worry, on the Sunday between 12pm and 4pm you will get the chance to watch demonstrations and learn from a number of crafters, makers and artists. Chat with them and check out their work as you explore a heritage craft trail around the farm. Admission by donation.

Why not make a weekend of it and pitch up at Willow and Lore, enjoying the craic in the evenings around the campfire. Camping and camper park-up available book directly with Willow and Lore at www.willowandlore.co.uk. Note: Willow and Lore Wild Glamping is an independent commercial enterprise supporting the Tenth Glen Heritage Farms project.  

For more information or to enquire about coming along as a crafter to display, demonstrate or teach, click here: Enquire here

We hope to see you there

Workshops:

Willow Weaving with Clive Welig

Join Clive Welig from Welig Heritage Crafts for one or both of a choice of two willow weaving half day workshops. With this expert basketmaker and traditional countryside skills practitioner you will learn the basics of basket making and get to produce a garlic basket or bread tray. On Saturday morning, in the half day workshop from 10am until 1pm you will make a hanging garlic basket for your kitchen, (can be repurposed as a birdbox or strawberry planter) and in the afternoon workshop from 2pm until 5pm you will make a bread or fruit tray. Click the Book My Place button above to secure your spot - Saturday 31st May, 10am until 1pm or 2pm until 5pm

Tapestry Weaving

A full day of art weaving in the wonderful County Antrim countryside. Design and weave a small wall hanging on a wooden frame. You will use a variety of textures of yarn to create a landscape or abstract piece of weaving. Your completed piece will be mounted on a decorative branch for you to take home and display with pride. To book your space click the Book My Place button above, Saturday the 31st May from 10am until 3pm.

Wool Spinning Workshop

On this full day workshop, learn how to prepare and spin sheep’s fleece into yarn. You will use hand carders to prepare and blend washed fleece into rolags. Using modern wheels, you will turn your rolags into yarn. We’ll introduce coloured fibres and you will ply two yarns together to create a skein to take home with you. To book your space click the Book My Place button above, Saturday the 31st May from 11am until 4pm.

Coil Pottery Workshop

Coil pots have been produced since Neolithic times, come and learn this ancient skill. In our Saturday morning half day workshop you will learn a little history and then get muddy with hands on the clay to pinch, coil, blend, scrape and smooth your own little vessel. We will wood fire them on Sunday 1st June at the Folk Wisdom event but as this is a wild firing and we can’t guarantee a whole pot will come out, you are very welcome to take your pot home with you on Saturday. Wear old clothes and shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty or wet and bring an old hand towel for wiping hands etc. To book your space click the Book My Place button above, Saturday the 31st May from 11am until 1pm.

Wild Flower Pottery Workshop

After learning about the heritage of pottery in the morning, get creative in this Saturday afternoon half day pottery workshop. We will be imprinting wild flowers into a soft clay slab to create a design. We will then use the slab to make a small vase. Your vase will be taken away to be kiln fired and glazed before being returned to you at a later date to enjoy. Click the Book My Place button above to secure your spot - Saturday 31st May, 2pm until 4pm.

Traditional Music Workshop

Learn about the history of the fiddle, bodhran, tin whistle and mandolin in this two hour workshop. Discover the different styles of play in traditional music and get a chance to have a go with some starter instruction on the fiddle and bodhran. Enjoy a performance at the end from your expert tutor Ann-Marie McCann. Click the Book My Place button above to secure your spot - Sunday 1st June, 12pm until 2pm.