By Eleanor Wilson
Members of the Berwick Woodworkers District Club are preparing to open their workshop and clubroom doors to the public for a woodwork expo on the weekend of Friday 8 July.
The club, located at Berwick’s Old Cheese Factory, will welcome the public for a series of woodworking demonstrations, including woodturning and carving, band sawing and dremel toy making.
Open from 5pm to 8pm on Friday 8 July and 9am to 5pm on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 July, various items produced by the members will be on display and a selection of items will be for sale, while a kids’ activity corner will keep the young ones entertained.
The volunteer-run club is typically open to members five days of the week, who spend their time perfecting their woodworking skills and cutting, carving and painting a range of wooden products.
Each year the club builds between 800 and 1000 wooden toys to gift to disadvantaged children at Christmas time.
Despite sharing a 35-year history, this year’s woodworking display is only the second in the club’s existence.
Last year the club managed to hold a successful open week in between Covid lockdowns, with hopes this year’s event will raise the profile of the club further, said club member John McMahon.
The club consists of around 100 members of various ages, genders and abilities, said Mr McMahon.
“We get the full gamut, we get retired workers, people that are still working professionally or even people who have never picked up a hammer in their life before,” he said.
“We actually get a surprisingly large number of females join the club, too.”
