Author: Adrian Leaman

Stroud Permaculture Course 2013

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Stroud permaculture Course
Last Thursday I taught the green buildings and woodlands sessions on the second Stroud permaculture design course. The following Sunday we all gathered at our woodyard on Duchy Home Farm for a days tree felling. This is a very popular day in the woodland behind the yard. It’s a humbling experience to work as a group felling a large mature tree by hand with axes and two-man felling saws. There’s a lot of grunting and puffing and a fair amount of tension in the air. It may be a surprise to everyone how hard this activity actually is but the power of collaborative human effort never fails to amaze me. It’s good to know and to ‘feel’ the effort that felling a tree really  requires. It was only about 60yrs ago that chainsaws came into popular use. Before then this was the ONLY way to do it. Who knows those days may come again.

I highly recommend doing a permaculture course. It’s one of the best courses I’ve ever attended. To find out more about 2014 Stroud permaculture course contact Seb at stroudpermaculturecourse@gmail.com

To find out more about permaculture go to the national website
http://www.permaculture.org.uk/

Green building and Permaculture Design

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Stroud permaculture Course
This post is here to promote next years Stroud Permaculture Course.
Last Thursday I taught the green building session on the first Stroud permaculture design course. We’ve had 28 people book on and the sessions are held at Rodbourgh community centre every Thursday night. In addition to this there are a series of weekend trips out including a visit to Ben Law’s woodland, Five Penny Farm and a day with me at Duchy Home Farm. The course was over subscribed and will run again next year.

I highly recommend doing a permaculture course. It’s one of the best courses I’ve ever attended. To find out more about 2013 Stroud permaculture course contact Seb at stroudpermaculturecourse@gmail.com

To find out more about permaculture go to the national website
http://www.permaculture.org.uk/

Teaching and Outdoor Classroom Building

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The Waldorf students building their outdoor classroom


This autumn sees the continuation of Waldorf College, Bridging the Gap course in Stroud. This is a year long full-time course for young people aged 16 -19 years old. The course emphasises learning new skills through the crafts, being on the path of self-discovery through the arts and developing a coherent world. I am working with the students building their outdoor classroom using hand tools and natural materials. During the process we are also felling trees from the woodland and learning about forestry. With the funding cuts looming on the horizon it has looked doubtful that the course will continue which has been very sad. I have met a few of last year’s students who confirm my belief that this course offers a transformative experience. It seems that the parents agree. Many have said that this is the first time their child has been motivated to participate in education. It now looks likely that critical fund raising can be met through the generosity of the local parents and that the college will survive until next year when it will once again be in a secure position. We all have our fingers crossed.

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Round Wood Timber Framing Course 2013

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Our Round Wood Framing Course 2013

Our Round Wood Framing Course 2013

Our Round wood timber framing course for 2013 is set for Sat 14th – Thur 19th Sept. Venue – The Woodyard, Duchy Home Farm, Tetbury, Glos.
M4 nr Bristol, or train to Stroud direct link from Glos, Swindon, Reading & London (1hr 45).

This is a course for any aspiring self-builder, with or without their own project on the horizon. No previous experience necessary.

The course is held at our lovely woodyard where all our building projects start. Delicious organic vegetarian food is prepared fresh onsite by our chef. Camping is in the woodland or fields behind the yard. For more details and booking info visit our main website at www.wholewoods.co.uk

Kevin McCloud’s Man Made Home, Kevin McCloud’s Shed. DDV notes for the self-builder

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Kevin McCloud's Man Made Home - DDV

Construction of Kevin McCloud’s DDV


A drop down veranda is a schizophrenic wall needing to be a floor. Each carries different structural loads and serves different purposes. Thus a drop down veranda is over spec for both jobs. Ours was built primarily as a floor to take the weight of many people at a party. As such it was built like one. Unlike the rest of the building the DDV frame is made from seasoned softwood to reduce weight. This is insulated in the conventional way and then boarded out. The exterior cladding is green western red cedar. I have calculated that the whole thing would be in the region of 500kg so Rob made his lifting mechanism capable of lifting this load. The majority of the weight is actually in the cladding, which will season, and loose weight over the first two years. With more time, a larger budget, or a desire to use more modern or high tech materials a lighter structure could be made. Also if such a thing is just for personal use by one or two people of course the internal structural work could be less substantial.