UNITE Rural life
n By Keith Hatch
All the fun of the Oak From horse hoggers to Tree Pirates, who could resist this wild weekend?
A rural event focusing on countryside and conservation returned to North Dorset over the August bank holiday weekend – and was packed with people exploring traditional skills, crafts and demonstrations.
The Oak Fair is now in its 17th year, and has grown from a small one day event to a full weekend attracting thousands to the Stock Gaylard country estate a few miles from Sturminster Newton.
Stock Gaylard covers nearly 1,800 rolling acres of Dorset countryside, of which 300 acres are predominantly oak woodland. There are also 80 acres of common land, a deer park, a dairy farm and a number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest - making it a fantastic site to explore whilst checking out the stalls and displays.
As the name suggests the Fair focuses mainly on wood related skills. There were around 200 stalls and exhibits ranging from high end furniture to hand-made brushes along local charities and conservation groups. Some displays showed how to work with animals in the woods, such as those by British Horse Hoggers and
Mere Down Falconry, whilst others demonstrated large forestry equipment used to process the cut trees ranging from current logging equipment to a steam engine powered circular saw turning entire trees into planks.
There were also Adams Axemen on site giving team lumberjack displays and even a group of chainsaw artists, called the “Tree Pirates”, who created sculptures to a soundtrack of Motorhead and Iron Maiden.
The Oak Fair isn’t all about sitting back with a coffee or a pint and watching things happen. There was also plenty of opportunity to have a go at activities such as scything, archery and bushcraft, whilst budding tree surgeons from 6 years old had the opportunity to put on a helmet and harness and climb in the canopy of one of Stock Gaylards ancient oak trees.
The Oak Fair is very different from most country shows that focus mainly on farming with livestock competitions and lines of combine harvesters. Instead the team at Stock Gaylard aim to highlight forestry and conservation.
As the organisers explain on the Fair’s website: “The heart of The Oak Fair has always been and will always be,
conservation.The conservation of our countryside, wildlife and woodland as well as our crafts and trades. In the beginning the Oak Fair was a way to help pay for the conservation of this historic Estate and the same goes for today.”
They are very keen for the Fair to be “a platform for many craftsmen to get out and show off what they can do and why it's worth preserving.”
And with increasing numbers attending every year it looks like their aims are being achieved.
36 uniteLANDWORKER Autumn 2023
Keith Hatch
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