Alan Titchmarsh - Lost Skills and Crafts Handbook

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Originally published as The Complete Countryman by BBC Books in 2011
This edition published in 2021

Design copyright Woodland Books Ltd 2021

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Cover design by Two Associates

ISBN: 978-1-473-53309-7

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Now, you might think that walking sticks are just for those who are a bit shaky on their pins. Not a bit of it. A stout walking stick makes a great companion when youre out for a country stroll, for helping you climb hills and slash aside nettles.

You might be lucky enough to find a suitable stick already growing in the countryside. Ash or hazel are the favourites for walking sticks, though you can also use sturdy stems from oak, sycamore and other trees. The most suitable sticks are to be found on trees that have been previously coppiced, which encourages them to grow long, straight, strong stems. If you can find one with a bend or knotty bit that makes a natural handle, its a simple matter just to cut it virtually ready to use. Cut just above the handle at the top, then cut the stick off a bit longer than you want, and remove any leaves or small side shoots to tidy it up. You can then trim the finished stick to exactly the right length for your height. Instant sticks are most easily spotted in winter, when the leaves have fallen from the trees, but if you happen to see a suitable piece in summer its perfectly fine to cut it then.

Otherwise you can train your own stick. Search for a suitably straight young stem thats still pliable, ideally during the growing season when the stems are at their most bendable, and tie a knot in it, or tie it over at an acute angle with string, so it forms a handle in due course. Then leave it to continue growing until its thick enough to cut and the handle sets solidly perhaps a year or two later.

If you want to start from scratch, grow an ash or hazel tree in a stretch of your own mixed country-style hedgerow or a corner of your wild garden, and coppice it (cut it down about 15cm/6in from the ground) when its several years old to make it produce suitable shoots. Save the straightest and strongest to make into a walking stick. Again, bend the handle into shape and secure it with strong string or tie a knot in it while its still whippy enough to bend easily, and leave it for a year or two. Then cut the stick, ideally over the winter some time between leaf fall in autumn and well before bud-burst in spring, when theres naturally as little sap as possible in the wood.

Once you have cut your walking stick, leave it to season for a while in a cool, dry shed. Then make a metal ferrule to protect the tip from wearing down through use. Use a hacksaw to cut a 2.5cm (1in) length of copper pipe of suitable diameter (available from builders merchants) and hammer it on over the end of the stick. Whittle the end of the stick slightly if necessary, and to make it fit tightly, heat the piece of pipe to make it expand so it slips on. It will then shrink slightly as it cools, making a tighter fit.

You can leave a stick as it is, with the natural bark sanding off any rough stem bases or varnish it (it doesnt need peeling). Thatll give you a good basic country walking stick. But if you get the bug, you might enjoy trying a few more elaborate versions.

To make a stick with a carved handle, select a suitable strong, straight shoot growing out at an acute angle from a thicker branch. This time, dont just cut the straight shoot cut the branch a few inches either side of the point where the thinner shoot emerges, so your stick has a lump of thicker branch attached at the handle end. Then carefully carve that to make a curved handle with a fist-grip, or carve it more to create a figured handle.

A thumb stick is a special kind of walking stick thats a little longer than usual, with a V-shaped notch at the top instead of a conventional handle. Its designed for hikers walking over rough or hilly countryside, and as the name suggests, is used with your thumb hooked over the notch, instead of the palm of your hand grabbing a conventional knob or handle. If you want to make your own thumb stick, its just a case of finding a suitable long, straight, strong stick with a pair of equal-sized shoots forking out from the top, and cutting it off at the top 57.5 cm (2 or 3in) above the place they branch out so you are left with a V. The shank of the stick needs to be rather longer than for a normal walking stick; thumb sticks are usually about 1.31.5 metres (4 feet 6in to 5 feet) high for maximum comfort they want to be roughly the same height as your shoulder. The idea is to give the user extra purchase over uneven or sloping ground, when a normal stick would drop down the dip and be of little use.

Shepherds crooks are long, straight sticks with large, curving metal hooks at the end instead of handles; the hook is just the right size to catch a sheep by the hind leg. Ask a blacksmith to make you one out of metal, unless you can buy one ready-made from an artisan walking stick-maker. Pare the top of the stick roughly to fit, and heat the open end of the metal crook to make it expand so it can just be forced over the end, and as it cools and shrinks itll make a tighter fit. Some shepherds crooks have their hook carved from a piece of rams horn. These can be glued onto the shaft, but they need to be really firmly secured if they are to be strong enough to use for practical purposes many are simply decorative pieces useful for walking but less robust when it comes to catching your ewe.

Cut an armful of 11.2 metre (34 feet) long twigs from a birch tree in autumn, after leaf fall. Choose a tree whose canopy needs a little thinning, then bundle them up and leave them to season in a woodshed or similar place so they dry out slowly for several months. Its important that they remain flexible rather than turning brittle. Stand the bundle up on end and tap it down so the thickest ends of the twigs are all lined up, then roll the bundle round, pressing as you go, so the twigs are packed tightly together. Push a stout wooden broom handle thats been sharpened at the end, or a strong 90cm (3ft) length of home-grown hazel pole, into the bunch so that the twigs overlap the handle by 3045cm (1218in), and fix securely in two or three places with strong lengths of garden wire twisted tight with pliers so the twigs cant slip out. Lastly, snip the thin ends of the twigs so they are all roughly the same length to form the long, flexible bristles of the brush; it should end up looking like the traditional witchs broom, standing roughly 1.21.3 metres (4 feet to four-feet-six) tall. Use it to whisk wormcasts off a lawn, or to sweep up leaves round the garden, but remember that it is most effective when held horizontally, almost parallel to the ground, rather than upright like a conventional broom.