Willow weaving

On Friday we held a willow weaving workshop at one of the local village halls, always a popular event.

Alan, who has volunteered at Fen Drayton Lakes and at Ouse Fen for many years now, taught us how to make our own baskets using willow harvested from Fen Drayton Lakes.

'Willow bashing', basically cutting back willow, is one of the regular tasks on the reserve. It's a tree that loves the wet so it does very well around the edges of the lakes here, as you can imagine. The problem is that left unchecked it will quickly take over the area - not great for wildlife. Our volunteer work parties therefore spend a lot of time keeping on top of it.

Alan prepares some of the willow we cut back as weaving material, which he then works into beautiful baskets, trugs and garden obelisks (and even his own willow weaver's hat).

He generously shares his skills through these day-long workshops. It's not easy but the sense of pride that comes from having persevered with your own creation is definitely worth it!

Look out for more willow weaving workshops next year, or if you'd like to be added to our events email list for updates on what's happening at the reserve, drop us a message at fendraytonlakes@rspb.org.uk.