The Yorkshire artisan who has revived the heritage craft of wooden spoon carving

“It maybe destiny to work with wood – there is a name for it nominative determinism – when your name is related to your job,” says Robin.

Immersing himself in the natural environment as a child, Robin’s fascination with plants and trees has followed him through life.

"That is what got me into what I am doing now, effectively,” he says. “I ended up getting a job with the National Trust as a forester.

"I worked in conservation forestry for eight years, but people would assume because I worked with trees I knew about wood and I didn’t really. People who work with wood would say ‘that’s a nice piece of elm’ and I couldn’t tell what the difference was.”

Robin believes importation of timber led to a ‘dis-connect’ in the traditional way woodworkers sourced their wood.

“In the early 20th century woodworkers used to get their wood from foresters and would have a local sawmill where they would get the wood converted.

"That link was broken, probably during the second world war, when we started importing most of our timber, so woodworkers were then working with sawn dried timber that came from the other side of the world and lost that understanding of working with wood straight from the tree; which trees work well and how to get the best out of trees, and what the quirky and unusual trees are, so my journey became a re-discovery of what to use and I would take home bits of wood every night to work with them.

“Learning about the properties of them is how the spoon carving came about. I started spoon carving in the late 90s and also learned to turn wooden bowls.”

Seeing the tools of well-known bowl turner, George Lailey, in the Museum of English Rural Life, Reading, gave Robin the impetus to learn the technique and revive what had become an extinct craft.

“It became my passion and I spent five years learning how to do bowl turning, making wooden bowls on a foot powered lathe.”

Robin explains wooden bowls, once the staple of culinary implements, waned with the arrival of pottery.

“Everyone in Britain was eating from wooden bowls from 500AD to 1600AD and that is the reason why Turner is a really common surname and Potter is a common surname.”

It is 25 years since Robin gave up the day job to become a full-time wood worker. During that time, he has produced an impressive 30,000 wood turned bowls and plates.

His earlier work, replica Medieval pieces, were produced for clients including the Mary Rose Trust; Tower of London; the Globe Theatre; Hampton Court Palace and the Stonehenge Visitor Centre. Subsequently, skill sharing and tool making has become a greater focus for his work.

Fifteen years ago, with a group of friends, Robin established the charity Heritage Crafts. In 2014 he received an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to Heritage Crafts and Skills.

“There are a lot of skills in danger of dying out and it is important to make sure, not only that they don’t die out, but they are passed on.”

True to his trade, Robin taught his then 17-year-old daughter who, in turn, now aged 30, teaches spoon carving for mental wellbeing in Birmingham.

“Jojo set up a social enterprise called Path Carvers. There is something about sitting in a circle where you are not making eye contact but you are in a social situation and carving together,” says Robin.

Jojo is also involved in the family’s Wood Tools business in Sheffield.

Tool-making came out of satisfying a demand. “By 2010 there were enough spoon carvers around that it became impossible to buy the tools.”

Conscious of working in a city synonymous with steel and cutlery manufacturing, Robin saw a niche he was eager to fill.

He began making his own spoon carving hook knives, the little scoop shaped knives for scooping out the hollow in the bowl.

The tools have become recognised among the best in the world and have been exported to over 70 countries worldwide.

Interestingly, Robin, was heading to Japan for a spoon carving demonstration when we spoke.

“Woodworking transcends the language barrier. I can sit and watch a Japanese crafts person work and I don’t have to understand the language.

"We can communicate with hand gestures and I can understand what they are saying about the wood work. But I do try not to do these things often because I am an environmentalist and don’t want to be flying around the world all the time.”

The growth in popularity of wooden spoon carving is evident from when Robin began teaching classes 20 years ago at the village hall in Edale, Derbyshire where he was living at the time.

“I’d teach about 10 courses a year with eight people on each to carve wooden spoons. It became very popular, and in two years people were setting up as teachers so we went from less than a dozen wooden spoon carvers in the country and now there are probably 20,000.”

The launch of Spoonfest in 2011, an international celebration of the carved wooden spoon held annually in Edale in August, is also helping to satisfy demand.

Robin puts the growth in the craft’s popularity down to people seeking a ‘digital antidote’ to scrolling and screen time.

“I think there is a real need in people for something that is not a screen, and I think it is for people to do something simple.”

Robin explains spoons can be carved from the branches of over-blown trees and can provide a practical alternative to trees being chipped and chopped for firewood.

Softer hardwoods such as Alder, Birch, Lime and Poplar, are perfect for spoon carving and are ideal for beginners.

“You get it fresh and can carve it into a wooden spoon with a few simple tools. An axe, a knife and a curved knife.

"That is another reason why it has become popular. There aren’t many hobbies you can start off for £100 and away you go. You can also do it anywhere.

"I take tools when I go camping and can whittle a spoon sat around a campfire.”

The time it takes varies on the piece being carved. Robin explains a chunky wooden cooking spoon can take half an hour, or an hour for a more refined piece.

“All my friends have a cooking spoon I have made. I want everything I make to be used.

"There is nothing nicer than a spoon designed really well so it is a spoon you can have when you are cooking and it develops a real patina,” says Robin.

“It is what I am passionate about and it is really important. In the early stage of my life I used to hitchhike all over Europe and the States and I used to talk to a lot of older people about the meaning of life and what is important in life and work.

"The ones who were happier were always doing work they were happy with and that was the message I took away.

"I said to myself that I wanted a job that had meaning and that felt I was doing something good whether for the environment; the local community or for the world.

“I gained a job that had meaning and was worthwhile, but also used my head, my brain and my body and that is what links all the things I have done.

"Hopefully they have all been worthwhile and have been useful and have a bit of soul in it as well.”

Spoonfest 2025 takes place at Edale, Hope Valley, Derbyshire from July 31 to August 33 spoonfest.co.uk