On Sunday the 31st of August Huw met Keireine and Martyn Canavan for the first time as they were collecting fallen Walnuts from the ground in Hailey Park, Cardiff. A long chat ensued about natural dyes, weaving with tree bark and the monitoring of bats from their calls along the Taff. Many shared interests meant a visit to see Dr Keireine Canavan’s work at Cardiff Metropolitan University was a must. On Tuesday Huw met Keireine again at the site of the gardens she has established in the grounds of the Llandaff Camus on an area of old car park. The small gardens have demonstration plants to illustrate natural dyes and fibres as well as a FarmBot robotic planting, weeding and picking machine and a test area for collecting electrical current from the natural activity of microbes in soil.

Keiriene talked about her role and research as Head of Textiles at the University and how students are being introduced to natural, sustainable options as part of the design courses. More broadly there is a lot of research ongoing into the area of using plants more productively and learning lessons from the past through plants such as Flax.

A very serendipitous chance encounter which feeds very nicely into Arloesi Dolgellau’s wider interests and specifically our Oak Wood initiative for this coming Christmas. With Oak Woods we are collecting Oak Apples and acorns to make traditional black ink and collecting leaves to make paper. These will allow us to make handcrafted, naturally produced Christmas cards with designs formed by hand or with our 3D printer and Lasercutter. Now, through the experience that Keireine brings we will be able to broaden our options for future projects.