I realize that things keep changing and educating and teaching each generation of aspiring tradespeople also changes, I was fortunate to be able to have had hands on teaching from my father, this format is slowly ending for many reasons.
Through the years I have run across many very wonderful people from many areas of the globe, here in Ontario the Mennonites are struggling to hang on to their Old ways
Talking to some of the older folk visiting the UCV site, I felt a yearning in their hearts as they watched me hewing timber, and once in a while as I rested and struck up a conversation, they wholeheartedly admitted they were losing the old ways and methods and really didn't know how to stop it
The admissions usually covered hewing and timberframing, but I am sure there were many other areas also threatened
I sort of got the feeling that they felt that they should be doing more but were at a loss to know what to do
One thing that they did say was that it was wonderful that The UCV site was trying to retain the old methods, and during the course of the conversation it was hard for me to not let the old folk take the axe and go to work
In my opinion timberframing has changed so much as it tries to satisfy the general public that the framers need the modern computers to calculate and lay out their cuts
I really don't think that Guild conferences/workshops should stray too far away from the guiding light--let your senses know what I mean
