Steve got me thinking

[T-oddity]

I'm a part of a country crafts group that meets up on a monthly basis with the aim of sharing skills and knowledge on many different topics, ranging from string making, natural dyes, charcoal making, green wood working, basic blacksmithing and many many more. We welcome anyone to come along to our meetings to "have ago" though the group itself is a closed group by invite only to those who show a genuine interest or a craft or skill to share.

I see it as part of developing a local community of like minded people with skills post shtf, most of the members are intersted in the permaculture and transition town kind of movement which is another aspect to the group.
The group is still relatively small with just a hand full of people, but there is a lot of knowledge and experiance in the group.
Infact we are meeting up today, the wife will most likely be working on the pole lathe and I will be working on some over stood mixed coppice which I'm looking to bring back in to producing usable hazel rods for hurdle making.

Stumbling blocks for a group like this are the modern issues of health and safety, insurance and child protection, We have some cover through our membership to the Association of pole lathe turners and green wood workers, but with such a broad range of topics that we cover you could soon be in trouble if someone came along and got injured, one of the reasons for being a closed group.