ONE man’s trash is another man’s treasure as crafty volunteers at Chedham’s Yard proved during Great Big Green Week.
Rag-rug maker Linda Ledger, DIY toy maker Margaret Taylor, and woodturners Tony Bright and Dave Sibert, have been inspiring visitors to the yard in Wellesbourne with ideas of what can be made out of the things that other people have no use for.
Linda has become a magnet for friends’ leftover textiles, and Tony and David for chunks of tree. Margaret has found that she attracts all sorts of little bits and pieces of rubbish. They each use different materials but all have the skill and ingenuity to convert them into something useful, beautiful – or fun.
The historic wheelwright’s yard is the natural setting for creative recycling because that is exactly what the Chedhams did when they repaired carts and farm equipment. Their Victorian accounts contain frequent references to fitting second-hand parts, and the old forge and workshops are still crammed with stuff that five generations of the wheelwrighting family held onto in case it came in handy.
