Basket Making
Materials
Most English baskets are made from different varieties of willow. This used to be grown in many parts of Britain in osier beds. The low-lying moors of Somerset were a main source of willow, but originally it was cultivated and cut along a great many British river valleys.
After three years growth, the willow is cut ever winter to the 'stool' (at ground level) using a willow knife or reap hook. White willow or whites may also be cut in spring when the sap begins to flow as this allows the bark to be peeled more easily. The rods, known as withies or osiers, are graded in lengths from 3'-9', bundled into wads around 2'7" (79cm) in circumference, tied with withies, and stacked to dry.
Some bundles of rods are left as browns, that is with their bark left on. Others are boiled for several hours, and left to soak so that the bark tannin stains the wood. When the bark is stripped off, the rods are pinky-brown and are known as buff willows. Buffs were first devised in 1860 to obtain light chestnut coloured rods.
Bundles destined to become Whites are stacked in shallow water in pits or troughs, known as pitting, until the leaf starts to appear in spring. The white willows are made by stripped away the bark using a peeling brake to reveal the creamy-white rods.
All the dried rods are tied into sale bundles, or bolts, approximately 37" (94cm) in circumference. They are graded by their height/thickness so a bolt of 6' would be approximately 1/2" thick at the butt, where as a bolt of 3' would be approximately 1/4" thick. The grades would be for the different varieties of Basket being produced.
