Story and images by Sector39, Yurt making course at the Workhouse

Click on image for original, please credit sector39 when using these photos

Yurt making course, Llanfyllin Workhouse Easter 2009

Thirteen participants and 2 helpers, aged from 21 to 70 from all over Wales and England spent the 3 day Easter weekend learning how to make Yurts from coppice wood at the Workhouse. These traditional low impact dwellings are increasingly popular for camping, events and as garden refuges and can be made with a range of basic hands-on carpentry skills. Over the three days participants learned how to steam bend, cut and join wood, cut holes with a burning mortiser and how to manufacture all the various components of the yurt. The course was led by local carpenters Mark Howlett, Andy Dunn and Helen Steer and organised by Steve Jones of sector39 as part of the Workhouse Skills for Sustainability Programme.

The first series of these short courses have all sold out in advance and the Workhouse team is greatly encouraged by their popularity. Next month we are expecting 24 students from across Britain and France to participate in a 2 week course in permaculture design, which is design system which originated in Australia in the 1970’s with the specific intention of creating genuinely sustainable communities, landscapes and settlements.