Making Cordage from Natural Materials - June 14th

Fibre has been hugely important to our species since the Stone age, it has not only clothed us but also been used for practical tasks such as making cordage to help build shelters, make baskets and nets for hunting. 

Cordage making was and still is an important skill, it can make ropes which have assisted us in building large heavy items as well as being used for string for smaller things. Our modern day ropes and string are industrialised and made by machines causing our species to forget this once well known and important skill.

 

This workshop with Mike is an introduction to connecting us back to how to make cordage (string) from seasonably available plants.

 

On the day we will:

• Explore various plants and their material for making cordage
• We will forage for the plant material we will be making cordage from that day 
• We will learn the key principles of fibre prep and extraction and how to make the cordage
• We will visit the Bronze Age Settlement archaeological site that is on the farm (first discovered 3 years ago), learn about the findings and dream into how they might have been working with and making their cordage, bringing our ancestral history alive.
• There will be opportunities to try making different samples of cordage that have different uses for different things

 

The day will be full with everything natural fibre, connecting to our ancestral skills and coming away with a deep appreciation for a simple ball of twine!