Tim Willey

There are a number of natural fibres which can be put to good use as a binding material, but perhaps the most useful, in terms of accessibility and strength, is the prolific bramble.  Bramble needs a good deal of processing, and in its wild state it's a bit of a beast to handle!  First the thorns are rubbed off with a leather glove or the back of a knife (colloquially known as 'shrieding'), then it's carefully spit in two and the pith removed. The resultant fibres are incredible strong and if used immediately are surprisingly supple. Here I have used it as a binding for a besom broom. We have hundreds of self-set birch where we cleared some conifers some seven years ago, so birch twigs are plentiful. The handle (or 'tail') is made from holly.