Wood Market takes centre stage

This year’s Wood Market (24–25 Oct) looks set to be the busiest yet with regular festival favourites joined by a host of new exhibitors from around Scotland

Maybe it’s the smell and feel, the sense of timelessness, or the sheer craftsmanship involved, but there’s something rather magical about products fashioned from real wood. And there will be plenty of them to enjoy on and around Tweed Green in Peebles this weekend as the festival Wood Market returns with another tempting mix of top-quality items.

From modest beginnings, the Wood Market has become a central part of the Tweed Valley Forest Festival and is now widely considered to be Scotland’s premier event of its kind. Held in the Community Centre by Tweed Green, it is the place to go for bespoke wooden furniture, gifts and toys, driftwood art, sawn timber and pretty much everything in between – and all available direct from the makers.

This year sees more than 25 high-quality craft-makers fill the Community Centre, with festival favourites such as Aurora all the way from Peterhead, Wee Toon Carver, Driftwood Studio, Tom Cooper Fine Furniture (this year exhibiting alongside fellow furniture-maker Stephen Finch) and sculptor Michael McManus – don’t miss his famous giant conkers! – joined by a host of top-quality new exhibitors from all over Scotland.

And that’s just what’s happening inside. The Wood Market also spills onto Tweed Green itself where a host of stallholders, including the John Muir Trust, Wolf Glen Tipis and The Woodland Trust Scotland, will provide hands-on activities for the whole family. Visitors can try their hand at making wooden utensils, bat boxes, or a traditional witch’s broom for Halloween, as well as check out local firewood suppliers and buy a range of wood-related products, from mushroom stools to wood-burning stoves and local fruit trees.

Meanwhile, the team from Wooplaw Community Woodland will be challenging all would-be lumberjacks to have a go at log sawing using a five-foot-long, two-person saw.  The trick, apparently, is for each person to take it in turns to pull rather than push the saw! Under-16s can also take on the NaiLit challenge: a competition to see who can drive a nail furthest into a log – a test of both strength and accuracy!

And that’s all before mentioning the brand new Carvefest!, a mouthwatering Food Market – with everything from local venison to cocktail demonstrations – and the always eventful Scottish Conker Championships (Sat only). We’ll write about that one in our next post …

Further info

The Wood Market will run on Saturday and Sunday (24–25 Oct) from 10.30am to 4.30pm on Tweed Green and inside the nearby Community Centre.