We recently visited the Oak Fair at the Stock Gaylard Estate in Dorset. It is very traditional, predominantly woodcraft-related, and free of corporate tatt. One of the exhibitors, Bodden Cross Studios, was offering letter carving and woodturning courses.

I had been thinking that I might carve the name of the boat on her transom, so I took a leaflet and a few days later got in touch with Stephen Stokes, who has his studio near Shepton Mallett, and booked a day’s letter carving course.

We drove down on Monday, for a two night stay at the local Charlton House Hotel, and on Tuesday I spent a very enjoyable day with Stephen. While there are books and, no doubt, You Tube videos that one can try to learn from, nothing beats 1:1 tuition from an expert craftsman. Stephen soon had me carving Is and Cs and then we moved on to carving the boat’s name: ‘Mischief.’

Stephen is not only a good teacher, he is also a great raconteur. The time went all too fast but, by the end of the day, I had completed a practice run and started another – the M is especially tricky, as there are some fragile parts of the letter that can easily get chipped out.

I had planned to take the transom for this course, but ran out of time to have it ready. No matter, I can practice my letters before tackling the real deal.

The tools I need for letter carving arrived this morning, and I made myself a mallet yesterday, so I am good to go.

By the way, I am not taking commissions at present, though if you don’t mind a novice attempt, my arm is twistable. Anyway, I have a boat to build!