Karen Bek teaches willow weaving across Norfolk and East Anglia, from a monthly basketry course in North Wootton, near King’s Lynn, to one and two-day workshops at Holkham Hall and Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse. Whichever you choose, you go home with something you made yourself, and a fair idea of how to make the next one. Before basketry, Karen worked in social and therapeutic horticulture, and her courses are built around wellbeing as much as technique. Willow is hard on the hands. She allows for that, with breaks and help when your fingers start to give out. She also grows her own basketry willow, so you learn how it’s grown and prepared as well as how to weave it. The longest course is the monthly one in North Wootton, built for beginners. The groups were meant to run for six months. The students kept coming back, and some are now working at intermediate and advanced level. So a one-day workshop is a good introduction. A monthly course gives you room to practise, get things wrong and slowly get rather good at something. The 2027 groups have a waiting list. Please contact Karen to join the list. The shorter workshops range from a two-day round English basket, built from the base to the handle, to garden sculptures (hares, birds, runner ducks), trivets and platters, fruit baskets and willow Christmas decorations. Small group and one-to-one tuition can also be arranged.

Days, dates and times

Year-round, at venues across East Anglia. One-day workshops usually run from 10am or 10.30am to 4pm. The monthly basketry course meets in North Wootton; dates and fees for the 2027 introductory groups are not yet published, and a waiting list is open. Prices vary by workshop.

About this experience

Every course starts with the willow. Karen brings a choice of varieties and colours, and all tools and materials are included. On the two-day round basket course you begin with the base, using a traditional English method. Then you stake it up, weave the sides, lay down a border and finish with a handle. The sculpture days start with a framework, which you then build out with willow into a hare, a bird or a runner duck. The monthly course goes further over the year: two kinds of base, a range of weaves, shaping, handles and eventually designing your own baskets. Workshops are for ages 16 and over and suit beginners and improvers. At Holkham, hot drinks are provided. At Gressenhall, bring a picnic or use the Mardlers’ Rest Café on site.

How to book / attend

Workshops are booked directly through Karen’s website below, even when they’re held at Holkham or Gressenhall.

Social Media

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karen_bek_willow_/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenBekWillow

What will participants learn or take away?

How to make a willow basket from the base up, including the traditional English underfoot base and a split stick base. Different weaves and how to combine them, how to control the shape of a basket, how to make handles and how to build a willow framework for sculpture. How basketry willow is grown, selected and prepared. And whatever you made, which you take home at the end of the day.

Website

https://www.karenbekwillow.co.uk

Address Summary

North Wootton, King’s Lynn, Norfolk