GROWN GRAB RAILS

estrictions on movement during the Covid-19 pandemic need be no barrier to maintaining the basic hand skills of boatbuilding, so long as we keep things at a modest scale. If you’re a latter-day Henry Adams, master shipwright at Bucklers Hard during the 18th century, with mature forest on the doorstep, you may find the makings of within scope of your daily exercise walk. But the rest of us can look to the windfall branchwood of hedgerow and copse to make parts for the boat every bit as authentic as the grown floors, frames and futtocks of England’s wooden walls – grown grab rails and handles.