We spent last week with Mike Hubbard, master basket maker, in Cornwall, learning from his vast experience, patience and good humour.

We went with the aim of recreating the cran basket; used in the herring fishing industry in Great Yarmouth. Doing this work revealed lots about the cran itself; the original we took with us was made of cane, not willow, so there were distinct differences in their making. Not least of which is that cane is much longer and the same diameter all along its length so there are fewer joins than in a willow basket.

We also took a swill basket with us and had a really useful discussion about how we will go about making one of those.

    Crans and the swill

Our days spent training with Mike are behind us. Both of us were very much looking forward to it that it feels sad that it’s over. However we hope to learn with Mike again and will make the best use of everything he’s taught us in the next project

                                        Sitting on our upturned crans before the handles went on