Eden Valley Woodturners to feature pole-lathe turning demo in May meeting

At Brampton Village Hall near Appleby, Eden Valley Woodturners put one of the oldest forms of turning front and centre, with Lee Bassett demonstrating pole-lathe turning at the club’s May meeting. The hand-powered setup, driven by foot or spring motion rather than an electric motor, gave members a chance to see how much the pace, rhythm and tool handling change when the lathe itself is working in a completely different way.

The meeting took place on Wednesday evening, 13 May 2026, starting at 7:30 p.m. and running to about 10:00 p.m. Eden Valley Woodturners meets there on the second Wednesday of the month, and the evening followed the club’s usual format: a working session with refreshments mid-evening, a practical entrance fee and a demonstration built around technique rather than talk alone.

Entry was set at £5 for members and £8 for non-members, with an annual subscription of £50. Those details made the night look less like a public show and more like a club evening with a specific craft purpose. For turners used to electric lathes, the pole-lathe demo offered something different to watch and evaluate: the reciprocal motion, the slower cadence, and the way the operator and machine have to stay in step.

That old method is not a novelty act. Heritage Crafts traces wood turning back many thousands of years and points to strap, bow and pole lathes among the earliest machines. British Woodturners likewise describes pole lathes as one of the oldest forms of lathing, built around reciprocal motion. The Association of Pole-Lathe Turners and Green Woodworkers, founded in 1990, has kept that tradition active among specialist practitioners.

The evening also fit neatly with Eden Valley Woodturners’ stated aims. The club says it wants to build awareness of the woodturner’s art and craft, provide a forum for exchange among turners, and arrange demonstrations, talks and competitions that encourage high-quality work. As part of the Association of Woodturners of Great Britain, it sits within a wider network that uses regular meetings and demonstrations to support skill development across clubs.

Eden Valley Woodturners also keeps its public presence going beyond the meeting hall, with members’ work shown in the Exhibition Room of Appleby Tourist Information Centre and demonstrations at local events such as the Dufton Show. That makes the pole-lathe evening feel like a natural extension of the club’s calendar, and a reminder that the oldest turning methods still have a place on a modern club night.