I have been a wood turner since 1978, specialising in treen, which means wooden bowls and platters used for eating food. These are usually made of local hardwood that I have coppiced myself, with assistance. Occasionally I get a piece of local red cedar or cherry, but as a general rule, the plates are in sycamore and the bowls are in sycamore, cherry, silver birch or ash. I know they last well because sometimes people come up to me and say that the bowl I made them 25 years ago is getting a bit worn, so they would like a new one. We daily use the first two sycamore and ash plates I made in 1979, (see below) and they have plenty of life left in them. Wooden plates and bowls are great to eat from - they are quieter, warmer to the touch, and insulate the food better. I also make wooden spoons to go with them, but don't usually have spoons in stock.

Tried and tested ways to dramatically shorten the life of your plate or bowl:
1. leave it on a hot plate or put it in the oven
2. leave it out in the rain on the grass for two weeks or more.
In both these cases treen start returning to their elemental state.

To get a long and happy life from your plate or bowl, wash it as soon after using as possible, using low amounts of detergent, if any, and preferably Ecover or a similar detergent free cleaner. Sometimes a scrub and rinse in hot water will be enough. Then drain on its side or upside down so all water drains off and air has access to all the surfaces, thus:

The first two plates on the left are the first two plates I ever made, in 1979 - still going strong.
Oil every few months with a vegetable oil or maybe olive oil.

In 2007 we started selling treen from this site. Every item is different, but here are the basic categories:

b1 Bowl suitable for breakfast cereals, muesli etc or soup. Adult size: about 6" wide and 3" deep. £19

b2 Bowl as above, child size £16

d1 Dish suitable for stews, curries, soups, crumble desserts etc.
Adult size: 8.5" - 9.5" , 230 - 250mm wide; 1 5/8" - 1 7/8", 35 - 45 mm deep £20

d2 Dish as above, smaller size £16

p1 Platter large size,
(approx 10 1/2" - 11", 265 - 275 wide; 7/8" - 1 1/8", 22 - 28mm deep) £20

p2 Platter medium size, (scalloped style)
(approx 9"- 10", 240-260mm wide: 7/8" - 1 1/8", 35-45mm deep) £18

p3 Platter small size £13

This page was off the air for a while, because I make treen according to what wood I have available, and I had several orders from the list above that drained my wood stock. In a perfect world you would order something that I have actually got at the moment, so here is my stock as of early May 2009. Followers of this page will notice that I have had a run on sycamore platters, and have recently made some items of alder. (For the true aficionado, you can see the tree stumps on our current events page a couple of years back).

There are here several sycamore large scallop-profile platters at £20, two fabulous heavy duty oak platters at £29; two heavy duty medium size oak plates at £20; two sycamore salad bowls at £32;one large bowl in Silver birch at £24 (slight blemish); a fine ash bowl at £28; a selection of daddy bear/salad bowl/serving dishes in sycamore, silver birch and alder (the pinkish ones) from £20 - £28, a wacky unique walnut bowl still with the bark on at £24; and a selection of smaller cereal/soup bowls in sycamore, cherry and alder ranging from £10 - 18. I will update this regularly and see how it goes.

PLEASE ADD p&p to your order: 1 item £4, 2 or more items £6.
I accept euros as well. Convert by £ x 1.2 and add a bit extra for more postage if outside UK.

How to Order: First email me to check what you want is in stock, or that I have the wood to make it. I also may have larger bowls, platters, spoons etc. Please state quantities and types of what you want, and give your name, address and phone no. If you are registered with PayPal, you can pay by email. If not, send a cheque to Tony Wrench, Brithdir Mawr, Newport, Pembs. SA42 0QJ, UK. As soon as I receive your payment, or sooner if I know you, I'll send them off. Thanks.