2026 Events Programme
All meetings start at 19:30 and run until approximately 22:00 with a break of about 15 minutes at some convenient point between 20:30 and 20:45. The hall opens from approx 19:00 to allow members to gather and chat to each other and to access the club shop / wood sales.
January 14th – Member’s Evening
- What would you like to see? – please let any member of the committee know and we’ll see if we can accomodate your request.
February 11th – Arthur Kingdon
Arthur’s major passion in woodturning is the making of complex ornamental boxes. He has several ornamental turning lathes and for a while had an “MDF Rose Engine” on loan from a friend. He has now made his own version of this machine. The rose engine has been made pretty much in accordance with a design available on the Internet. For anyone interested in ornamental turning or rose engines – how they work and what sort of pieces can be generated etc.- a few hours spent on this website will provide a fascinating insight.
Alternatively come along to this session where Arthur will tell us all about it!
March 11th – Paul Bellamy
Paul has been demonstrating for quite a while, but I believe this will be his first trip to the GAW.
TUESDAY April 7th – AGM – DOWN HATHERLEY VILLAGE HALL
Note the change of location. Also not THIS MEETING IS ON TUESDAY, not Wednesday.
May 13th & 14th – Richard Findley RPT
One of the best known production spindle turners in the UK, Richard comes from a long line of woodworkers, going back at least five generations and he has been involved in woodworking since leaving school in 1996 at 16.
Richard qualified as a joiner, achieving NVQ level 3 and, while working in the trade for his father, he discovered woodturning. He began by turning small pieces for furniture and cabinetry that he had made but found that he got more and more involved with the turning side of things. You could say he got hooked!
Since then he has gone on the establish his own business and was accepted onto the Register of Professional Turners back in 2010. In addition to the turning business, Richard is also a regular contributor to ‘Woodturning’ magazine (members – index available here)
June 10th – Keith Fenton
After his Christmas visit Keith will return to demonstrate something which isn’t a bauble or tree
July 8th – Mark Beckett RPT
Mark is a professional woodturner widely known as ‘The Gentleman Woodturner’. He runs a workshop in the beautiful seaside town of Westward Ho! in North Devon where he is constantly surrounded and inspired by the beauty of nature.
August 12th – Katie Armstrong RPT
Katie was one of the lead demonstrators at the Chestnut Weekender down in Swindon in 2025. If her demonstration is half as good as that one then we’re in for a treat and it won’t just be the turning that’s entertaining you, she can talk a bit too!
Katie is also the Secretary of the Register of Professional Turners.
September 9th & 10th – Simon Hope RPT
In addition to beiong a supplier of high-end jigs for woodturning and high quality lathes from the like of Oneway, Stratos and Vicmarc, Simon is also a quality turner in high demand (we had to book him well in advance!). You can get a sneek preview of some of his turning on YouTube, where he shows some how to get the best out of some of his tools and jigs.
September 13th – Frampton Country Fare
Please contribute turned items and raffle prizes so we can raise money for our charity of the year.
October 14th – Stuart Furini RPT
If you don’t usually like colour on you wood then maybe Stuart will be able to persuade you otherwise. He was the lead article in Woodturning issue 351 where the strap line on the cover was simply ‘COLOUR – Stuart Furini looks at easy colouring techniques’. In addition to colour Stuart does also do texture 😉
Stuart is a busy demonstrator all over the UK and also internationally in Europe and beyond – he demonstrated at the 2025 AAW International Woodturning Symposium in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. This will be his first visit to the GAW.
November 11th – Robert Till RPT
Robert is based in Staffordshire and having turned as a hobby from the age of 12, he is now a full time woodturner and member of the RPT.
December 9th – Christmas Event
Background image by Andreas Lischka from Pixabay