For a few years now, we have spoken with a chair maker, James Mursell, at some major craft fairs. He runs the Windsor Workshop near Pulborough in West Sussex. Knowing that I fancied doing one of his courses, Sylvia gave me one of his chair-making courses for Christmas, booked for a week in early July.

We stayed in one of the self-catering cottages on James’ farm, beautifully converted from former stables. While I steamed and shaped chair parts, Sylvia was able to have a well-earned break, reading and relaxing.

James has the programme down to a tee. His instruction and teaching was excellent and, it was great to be learning in a small group with the other seven attendees.

The group included a father and son team, a father, mother and son team and a man who had come over from Japan, just to do the course!

After some delay – I am much better at starting things than finishing them – here is Sylvia’s new Windsor chair, with its hard oil and wax finish applied, in its rightful place, at the desk I made for her.

If anyone reading this fancies making a stool or Windsor chair, I can thoroughly recommend a course at The Windsor Workshop. No prior knowledge or woodworking experience is required, though a little certainly helps. James also produces some super chair-making tools and, yes, I have got a few of them for future projects!