International Wood Collectors Society

The late summer IWCS, U.K. branch meeting was hosted by Lionel Daniels on Sunday 12^th September at his business workshop near Alton in rural Hampshire in the south of England.

The day started with a pre-organised morning visit to the nearby Cole's Gardens with 26 acres of woodland garden consisting of a good mixture of native and exotic trees. The Gardens had been opened exclusively for IWCS members by prior arrangement with the head gardener.

Members were given an initial talk on the history and family ownership of the house and grounds and on the main arboreal attractions and recent introductions after which members were allowed to roam freely to explore the gardens and woodland with something of interest found at almost every turn. One of the prime attractions was a large Eucryphia glutinosa about 35 feet high that was in full bloom with a mass of white flowers that looked magnificent in the morning sun. This tree is a native of Chile and is generally quite tender but had clearly survived the last hard winter in this sheltered garden without visible damage.

On returning to Lionel's business workshop premises, we first enjoyed lunch in the afternoon sun before being taken on a planned tour of the workshop. Lionel had set up an unusual oscillating mortis machine for members ers to see in action and we were amazed at the speed at which the material was gouged out and also the good surface finish that was obtained. A copy lathe had also been set up for members to see a staircase balustrade spindle being profiled into shape.

The rest of the afternoon was spent enthusiastically sorting through some 400 plus wood samples that had been the collection of the late Charles Stainer. Charles had been a U. K. life member of our society who enjoyed working with wood and was also a serious sample collector.

Before making the homeward journey, members thanked Lionel for hosting the branch meeting that was thoroughly enjoyed by us all.