Meet the former Yorkshire butcher now making walking sticks for a living

Roger, 75, who has two grown up children and two grandchildren says: "I'd been a butcher since I was 13 and unfortunately when I was in my fifties I got a tumour and I had to finish work. It was in my leg so I couldn't stand to do my job.

"I've always been good with my hands and liked woodwork, and the kids bought me a lesson to teach me how to make walking sticks. I used to be a shooting man as well and had a stick when I was out in the country. I took it from there. I really enjoyed making them and it just escalated.

He adds: "It combined everything I wanted to do because I liked working with my hands. I have two dogs and when I used to go out shooting, I used to gather the sticks when I was walking my dogs. The best wood is hazel or blackthorn. They must be dry before you can work with them, which takes 12 months - so you gather the wood one year to use the next.

"I had a workshop where I could put them together. I knew plenty of lads who wanted a stick when they were out shooting so I could sell or give away what I made and it just worked and I've done it ever since."

Roger says what started off as a personal hobby expanded over time. "I had quite a lot of stock, so I decided to do a few farmers' markets and country fairs just to sell them.

"I did a few by myself and then Uniquely Local got in touch with me and asked me if I wanted to join them and go through them and I said that'd be great and it's worked ever since and they send the customers.

"It just works. It's good. It's like being back in the butchers - meeting people, chatting, having a good day, and they go away happy and I enjoy the day as well."

Roger says Uniquely Local, who carefully curated more than 300 experience gifts throughout Yorkshire, helped encourage and guide him in setting up a walking stick making course.

He says: "It was a great extension to my business, especially in the winter months when trade was much quieter.

"It’s completely different from my day job as a butcher but I really like meeting people and chatting.

"Being able to do stick making days at home in my workshop is very enjoyable and I’ve met some really nice people through running the workshops, male and female, old and young, from all walks of life all wanting to learn this ancient craft.

"I look forward to every stick making day as what everyone makes is so different.

Roger says the stick handles are made of wood or stag horn, buffalo horn, antlers or rams horn. It takes a week using antlers to craft the handle but it can take two to three months using ram, cow or buffalo horn.

He says: "All the horns are twisted so they need a lot of heat to shape and bend them into a crook handle shape and do the carving and then paint them.

"You can spend days heating, drying, shaping and painting and that is what takes the time."

Roger ,whose workshop is called Bramhope Country Sticks, is the guide and teacher for the day on the one day stick making course.

He runs the experience from his home workshop in North Rigton near Leeds.

Visitors to the workshop get coffee on arrival and time to discuss what they would like to get out of the course. After that it’s into the workshop to get familiar with the workshop, tools and stick components to design the preferred choice of stick.

Roger says all components are then prepared ready for assembly, including straightening of the stick, making the handle and joint ready for glueing.

After a busy morning there is a break for lunch. Then it’s back into the workshop to polish, lacquer, finish and add a ferrule – the end cap on the walking stick that touches the ground. The price includes expert tuition, all materials, morning coffee and biscuits, a homemade lunch, drinks throughout the day and tea and cake in the afternoon.

Roger says his workshops attracted a whole host of people - including retirees, couples and both genders and it is always a fun and satisfying experience.

"I have to be insured, so they've got to be 16 as the minimum age. And then we get married couples, single retired men and also ladies. I want people to have different experiences.

"We all stick together, decide what we're going to make. We have a buffet lunch and then in the afternoon we finish them off and I send them home with a full tummy and a nice walking stick as well.

"It comes in with a lot of hobbies really.

"So if you're a dog walker, it's good to have a stick with you.

"It's satisfying working with wood, it's just a nice satisfying hobby and a nice thing to have. It's so tactile and it's an achievement to make it in a day."

Roger says despite being different from his former day job as a butcher - there are some strong parallels and he loves the chance to socialise and meet new people.

Just like his job as a butcher, Roger loves what he does so much it doesn't feel like work.

He says: "When I was a butcher I loved serving on and meeting people and just being chatty all day. It didn't feel like a job to me.

"I don't know, I just loved it so much and now I'm doing lessons in my workshop - it's a similar thing.

"People are coming in, we're talking all day long.

"Sometimes it's two people, sometimes it's three, sometimes more - sometimes there's only one, but it's just a pleasant day. "It's an achievement for me - I get satisfaction from them being happy, enjoying what they're doing, achieving something, making something. And just having a really good pleasant day - and they go away with something that they want.

Roger says it has been a family affair - his wife, Sue makes the lunches and his 22-year-old granddaughter, now a farmer, helped him in the workshop as a child.

And the proud Yorkshireman says crafting a walking stick helps connect him and others to the surrounding beautiful Yorkshire countryside.

"Creating your own walking stick is more than just a practical skill—it’s a chance to connect with a rich countryside heritage. Walking sticks made using these traditional techniques have been trusted by generations of outdoor workers and adventurers alike."

To find out more about Roger's workshop and Uniquely Local visit uniquelylocal.co.uk