Barn raising (and timber frames).

I did wood work as a subject at high school. Dad was something of a carpenter. And I'd love to build a small house or building at some stage, however what little work I have done is coffee tables, chests, and the like.

But the timber frame, or at least handbuilt house does appeal to me, and I think at a couple of levels.
Firstly, most us get a sense of satisfaction from creating something with our own hands, and the better the job you turn out, the more satisfaction there is.
Secondly, it can be a co-operative exercise, and in this sense, I think our modern societies have lost something that smaller rural comminities, and pioneering folk, in the US, Canada, Australia and elsewhere used to have. That being a sense of co-operative communuty spirit, help and support for each other.

No project reflects that spirit more than an old style 'Barn raising'.


Have a look here, and here for some images.

If you've worked with wood, you'll love these joints;


Perhaps I'll get to build something substantial, even if it has to wait 'til retirement. But I surely do wish our societies could regain some of that co-operative spirit evident in such projects. We'd all be better off for having some of it.