I built a shelter in the garden to take advantage of the view and that was where the Bodger’s Bench and Pole Lathe were. I decided to make a bench to sit there during the summer. I wanted something solid and resilient.
Down at Westonbirt that year they had just set up facilities for milling and storing wood from the arboretum. Paul and I went to look what had been done so far and I chose a piece of oak with a curved edge. We laid a couple of Paul’s standard dining chair templates on the wood, discussed options with others on the course and ended up with two seats tht gently face toward eahc other. After drawing round them, leaving the bark edge intact at the back, we cut the shape out and then I designed the undercarriage to fit and decided how best to align the bows.
Ruth and I sit on this a lot, but we often have a single guest and it felt unfair for them to have to sit on one of the folding chairs that were also in the shelter. The result was that next time I went down to Westonbirt I made the matching chair and also the Bavarian Knockdown, to use up the last of the same piece of oak.