Welcome to Derbyshire Dales Woodcraft Club

The details below should providing you with essential information about the club and its members, to enable you to maximise the benefits and enjoyment for you as a member. Included in this pack you will find the following:

A brief history of the club
Broad aims of the club
Woodcrafts covered by the club
Monthly meetings
Competitions
Shows and displays
Club tools and their loan
The Club library
Woodworms
Membership fees

A brief history of the Club The club was established in 1996 by Everard Judge, (who was our Honorary Life Member until his sad passing in 2010), and a group of other enthusiasts interested in woodcrafts and in keeping these crafts alive, both amongst themselves and the community. The club has grown steadily over the years although many of the original members have left or passed away. The range of crafts covered has also grown with the membership. In the early years the club was dominated by wood turners but it is now there is a very much a mixed craft club – wood carvers, pyrographers, scroll saw enthusiasts and marquetry experts. The club has a thriving membership (despite the recent Covid-19 pandemic) and is operating as it was intended to be – a woodcraft club.

Broad aims of the Club The aim of the club is to provide a focal point for people interested in woodcrafts to exchange their knowledge and skills in order to promote the crafts and improve their own knowledge and expertise. This self-help approach in a friendly environment is aimed at providing the maximum enjoyment to the members at an affordable cost. (see Club Constitution for a formal statement).

Woodcrafts covered by the Club, Currently the club has members who are interested in carving, cabinet making, furniture restoration, marquetry and intarsia, painting, pyrography, stick-making, turning and scrollsawing. Some crafts are inevitably more popular than others, and many members combine multiple crafts in their work.

Monthly Meetings The club meets on the first Saturday of every month at Wyaston Village Hall. The formal meeting starts at 10am and usually continues to 3pm. The doors are opened at about 9.00am in order to set the hall for the meeting. Refreshments are readily available and extras are often provided by club members. Occasionally the meeting may be extended for an hour or two. We aim to have a balanced programme including demonstrations on woodcraft related topics; 'hands-on' sessions where you can try new techniques and crafts with advice and instruction provided by fellow members; and an Open Day to show the club activities to a wider community. We aim to cater for all interests in working with wood. If you have any area of interest that you don't think we are covering please make this known to a member of the committee. We have a break at around mid-day when the club provides tea or coffee and a biscuit. This is an opportunity for a chat with other members or the demonstrator. Feel free to bring your own food if you want a more filling lunch.

Competitions See Competitions page for details

Shows and Displays In past years the club has participated in several local shows and events including Ashbourne Arts, Brailsford Ploughing Match, Ashbourne Show, and the Northern Federation Woodfest. The club has also had a presence at the Wirksworth Arts Festival and at the Annual National Stick-Makers Competition held in Bakewell. It has also participated in smaller craft fairs such as at Sudbury Hall and Tissington. The club is very keen to expand this activity and to get more members of the club involved in these events. If you would like to participate by helping to set up the stalls, providing exhibits or manning the event please contact the Chairman or a committee member.

Club tools and their loan The club has a selection of tools for use at the monthly meeting, currently our insurance does not provide cover for tools outside of the club and so for the time being this is restricted.. Please speak to the club’s current tools-loan co-ordinators for all tools.

The Club Library A wide range of woodcraft books and DVDs are available for loan at every monthly meeting. The loan period is one month, but you can renew your loan at the next meeting. We have a good range of books, DVDs and magazines. If there is a particular item that you think you would like to see available in the Club, please give the details to the Librarian and the club committee will consider this for a purchase by the club.

Club website, Facebook and Woodworms magazine The Club’s website is managed by Graham Burke. This has a Welcome page, describing the Club and its location, a page of links to copies of the Club's Newsletter, Woodworms, which can be viewed and downloaded, a page of Useful Links to woodwork related websites and a For Sale and Wanted page. There are pages for each of the Club's meetings for the last twelve months.

We also have a good Facebook site managed by Kes Halliday with all the pictures and events from each monthly meeting (see link in header above)

Our magazine, Woodworms produced by Ken Rivers, so get a good overview of what goes on at DDWC check out the link on News and Update on the header above.

Membership fees The club fees are in two parts: an annual membership fee, currently £40 and a payment for each monthly meeting attended, currently £4 (paid to the Treasurer at the start of the meeting). There is no monthly payment for the June meeting (Open Day) and the December meeting (the AGM)The annual payment is due following the AGM in December - it is normally collected at the January meeting and must be paid by the February meeting to remain a member. This two-part fee structure provides a sound financial base for the club without being unduly expensive to members who are unable, or do not wish to attend every meeting. A first, exploratory, visit is free. After that a visitor wishing to attend further meetings is strongly encouraged to join the club. A later membership subscription will vary depending on how many months remained to the end of the year. Non-members wishing to attend a demonstration will charged a larger sum than the Member's fee, to reflect the cost to a member of the annual and per meeting cost.