Good; now make twenty more.

January 4, 2018 12:50 PM

"From thatching to stonemasonry or metalwork, Britain's master craftsmen were central to every aspect of life. Down the centuries, their workmanship has defined the fabric of this country, from the grandest cathedral to the simplest of tools. There are still guardians of these crafts working today who are dedicated to taking the long tradition of these skills into our modern world. In this series, complete beginners with a real passion to learn will be given an intensive introduction with some of these experts. But can a complete novice master even the basic elements of the craft in a short space of time, however intensive? And will they have acquired the skills to make something that is both beautiful and useful?"
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey (10 comments total)

i love this sort of thing, and i am also irritated by the sort of lowkey sexism of the show. brings back unpleasant memories of the trades for me. i'd be interested to know if that was exacerbated by the show's editing.
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 2:04 PM on January 4, 2018 [4 favorites]

Just watched the first one and enjoyed it.

I was a little off-put by the reality tv dynamic of having a dramatic intervention with the woman after she decided she couldn’t make the chair, but it seemed to resolve well and she seemed happy with the result after being challenged to attempt the more difficult project.

Definitely planning to watch the others.
posted by darkstar at 2:41 PM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

In a similar vein, but with less "reality TV dynamic": The Repair Shop.

The linked playlist is missing ep2 & the recent Christmas special (amusingly, quite obviously filmed in not-winter), but both are elsewhere on YT.
posted by Pinback at 3:35 PM on January 4, 2018 [5 favorites]

Just finished the second episode, on thatching. Fascinating to see how the technology of thatching works and how the trade functions.

Definitely had the reality tv vibe again, but there was no hint of sexism (neither the low-key overt type nor the soft-bigotry-of-low-expectations type that tinged the first one).
posted by darkstar at 3:52 PM on January 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

I just watched the weaving episode because I used to weave. I was amazed at the technical difficulty of even the early projects: multiple shafts and fine and unforgiving warp yarns. The reality show aspect was annoying and Mumtaz was set up to fail as it was obvious that she would have problems when she said that she didn't pick up dropped stitches in knitting. On the loom one crossed warp thread stops the whole loom from working. The show did a good job of showing that it's a very technical and even mathematical craft but it didn't really give enough explanation and demonstration to show the steps in dressing the loom and setting up the loom to establish the patterns. Also, tapestry weaving is so different and done with such different equipment that it doesn't really relate to what the contestants were doing.
posted by Botanizer at 5:01 PM on January 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

I'm finding this really interesting - i'm watching the thatching episode now. I gotta say, the expectations of the master thatchers are kinda wild -- the team aren't given enough time to practice! how on earth are they supposed to do a job that people spend their whole lives doing after 2 or 3 weeks of practice??
apart from that, i am finding it really enjoyable.
posted by capnsue at 6:20 PM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

The blacksmithing episode was quite gratifying.

Also, fascinating to learn that The Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths is a 700-year old trade company/guild, and that they have awarded a Gold Medal to members of their trade only four times in their long history.

Bob Hobbs, the fourth such recipient, was brought in to judge the students’ projects. Hobbs was a former Master of the guild and passed away in 2017.
posted by darkstar at 8:55 PM on January 4, 2018 [4 favorites]

I remember watching this series when it first went out and was really tempted by the stained-glass one (if only more time/money etc)

Stone masonry looked really physically difficult and not fun, esp doing it totally by hand with no machinery - just banging away all day with mallet and chisel. My hands and wrists were aching in sympathy watching.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:25 AM on January 5, 2018

Thank you, Pinback, for pointing me at The Repair Shop. It's exactly my kind of thing (or, as my wife calls the shows I like "Making You Bored For Science's Restoration Dramas").
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 4:08 PM on January 5, 2018

I finally had a chance to watch the first two of these today and really enjoyed them. I definitely picked up on the reality show vibe in the first one and thought that they edited more drama than strictly necessary. But green woodworking and English chair bodgers are well within my range of interests and I liked seeing multiple perspectives from the beginners. I thought that the episode came down a little bit heavy on Sarah early on but she made that great chair and maybe they were going for a redemption arc rather than sexism, but it jumped out.

I had no idea that I was so interested in thatch roofs. If I had just picked 2 or 3 episodes I would have gone with weaving or smithing next, but I am a sucker for youtube videos of someone performing their craft with either expertise or panache. I would have thought that they removed the whole roof and re-thatched, not that it's a 500 year old compost pile.

I am looking forward to the rest of these.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:52 PM on January 5, 2018 [1 favorite]