Timber for ships and roofs used to be grown to the right shape and size in English woodland - it was very valuable.

My father's father was a barber, and one of the sidelines for most barbers was making walking sticks. They had a steamer out the back of the shop and would soften the materials so as to be able to shape the tops and straighten out unwanted bends.

One rather strange material used was cabbage stalks - presumably from plants used for seed, or which had 'bolted'. I have a vague recollection that they were imported from the Channel Islands.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: