If you are looking for a memorable way to enjoy summer in the National Forest, Greenwood Days offers a unique chance to immerse yourself in traditional skills, beautiful surroundings and hands-on creativity. Courses take place in Spring Wood, an ancient woodland on the Leicestershire–Derbyshire border, and are run by one of the UK's leading centres for traditional woodland crafts. Greenwood Days offers nearly 60 courses across the year.

The National Forest is one of the boldest environmental regeneration projects in the country, transforming 200 square miles of the Midlands from former coalfield land into a rich, wooded landscape for people and nature. It stretches across parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire and is now home to more than 9.8 million trees, a growing woodland economy, and countless opportunities for recreation, wellbeing and learning.

As part of this landscape of renewal and reconnection, Greenwood Days embodies the spirit of the National Forest – using sustainably managed woodland to teach time-honoured skills, support local craftspeople and connect people with the natural world. The centre also contributes to the Forest's wider aims, by encouraging sustainable timber use, traditional woodland management and rural enterprise.

Founded by master craftsman Peter Wood in 1996, Greenwood Days began with just a handful of greenwood turning courses. Almost three decades on, it has grown into an award-winning training centre that brings some of the country's most skilled tutors to teach a wide range of heritage crafts – from Windsor chair-making to basketry, forging, willow weaving and more.

Peter is a celebrated Windsor chairmaker and greenwood turner with a passion for keeping traditional skills alive. He teaches many of the courses himself and invites leading practitioners to share their expertise. The setting is an atmospheric woodland workshop in Spring Wood, with rustic shelters, open fires and locally sourced materials – much of it harvested from the National Forest.

Participants range from complete beginners to experienced makers, with one-day tasters and intensive seven-day courses available. For many, a course is a thoughtful gift, a way to build new skills or simply a chance to enjoy a slower pace of life outdoors.

Courses running in July and August 2025 include:

• Scything – 11 July, £120 (3 places available)
• Rake making – 12 July, £120 (3 places available)
• Coffin weaving (5-day course) – 12–16 July, £700 (2 places available)
• Bench making (6-day course) – 15–20 July, £800 (1 place available)
• Berry basket making – 18 July, £120 (3 places available)
• Turning end grain cups on a pole lathe (2-day course) – 19–20 July, £230 (3 places available)
• Oval backpack making – 16–17 August, £230 (4 places available)
• Coffee table making – 23–25 August, £350 (1 place available)
• Basketry: bark and plant fibres – 23–24 August, £230 (3 places available)

Courses take place under canvas, with homemade soup and bread for lunch, and tea and coffee around the fire – creating a relaxed and sociable atmosphere. Some materials are gathered directly from Spring Wood and the wider National Forest, reinforcing the connection between landscape, sustainability and traditional skills.

In addition to public courses, Peter also teaches design students from Nottingham Trent University in the woodland and is a guest lecturer at several national centres of excellence in traditional crafts. Greenwood Days also offers one-to-one masterclasses and team-building days.

Participant testimonials include:

“The ambience was wonderful – an open fire for hot drinks and steam bending, homemade soup and bread for lunch… we highly recommend the course not only because it is fun, but it's also worthwhile both in the finished product and the skills learnt.”

“I went on a seven-day Windsor chair making course with Peter last year. In all my years of green woodworking, this was the best course I have ever been on.”

“The location is stunning… a silver birch forest with shelters to keep us and our work dry. A truly inspirational week.”

Greenwood Days is based at the Ferrers Centre for Arts and Crafts at Staunton Harold, Leicestershire. It plays an active role in supporting the aims of The National Forest – helping to create a sustainable landscape where people and nature thrive together.

To find out more or book a course, visit:
www.greenwooddays.co.uk
Tel: 01332 864529 or 07946 163860
Email: peter@greenwooddays.co.uk

Notes to Editor:

The National Forest covers 200 square miles of the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire. Its creation began in the early 1990s, a radical vision to bring the benefits of trees, woodland and multi-use forestry to lowland England, where thousands of people live and work.  

The Forest provides a national demonstration of the value of the natural environment to drive regeneration and showcase policy and practice, research and development in the heart of the country. 

It was the first broadleaf forest to be created at scale in England for more than 900 years and is now seen as one of the boldest environmentally led regeneration initiatives in the country. It has transformed a post-industrial Midlands landscape – scarred by coal mining and heavy industry - from black to green. 

Year by year, the National Forest has been steadily turning what was once one of the least wooded areas of England into a multi-purpose, sustainable forest. More than 9.8 million trees have been planted so far. Forest cover has increased from six percent to 25 percent, approaching double the national average for woodland cover. The aim is to reach around a third forest cover.   

Trees have been the catalyst for change and transformation. The National Forest is a positive response to the climate crisis and is putting in place the building blocks to deliver mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Through partnerships the National Forest is working to create wildlife habitats, reduce flooding, improve air quality, store carbon and create space for outdoor education, supporting the health and wellbeing of communities and enabling Forest-related businesses to thrive.

The National Forest Company (charity no: 1166563) leads the creation of the National Forest, working in partnership with landowners, local authorities, businesses and its communities. It has strong support from government, politicians and the public, and continues to be supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Contact: Carolyn Bointon

Telephone: 07855 976367

Email: cbointon@nationalforest.org

www.nationalforest.org