We enjoy taking breakfast in the conservatory, overlooking the garden, and watching garden birds come to the feeders. We recently had a visit from one of the local sparrowhawks … a real treat!

Having made a pair of Thos Moser-style bowback bar stools earlier this year, with James Mursell at The Windsor Workshop, I needed to create a breakfast bar to go with the stools.

I had searched on the internet for some suitable brackets, but it was during a visit to Laycock that we discovered the work of a local blacksmith, Hazel Moore. So it was, that we came to commission a pair of shelf brackets similar in design to something I had seen elsewhere.

While waiting for them to be made, we sourced a piece of yew from English Woodlands Timber. They are our nearest quality timber supplier, and have an excellent range of mainly-local timber, with a large rack of individual boards from which one can pick that special piece for a project.

We recently visited Hazel to collect the completed brackets, which are superb – just what we wanted.

I broke the golden rule: “measure twice and cut once” which was, in a way, fortuitous. I resolved my mistake by adding an oak edging to the yew, and it improves the end result I think.

I steamed the oak edging band on a former, and then glued it in place with some clamps purchased for the job. I did think that I had bought too many, but “you can’t have too many clamps” … and I didn’t!

Some copper nails – a gift from an old boatbuilder patient of mine – came in useful. I twisted the nails to increase their grip – a trick learnt at the Boatbuilding Academy. They match pretty well the copper rod used to lock the spindles on the bowback stools and tie the bar and the stools together nicely.

The yew breakfast bar top is finished with Osmo Polyx Oil. It is hardwearing and will cope with spillages.

Well, here’s to some sunny morning breakfasts at our new breakfast bar!