It's funny how these things start. One day you are walking along a beach, picking up bits of wood which take your fancy, and then, before you know it, everything gets out of hand! The wood had been mounting up for some time before Drydock came into being, but there was a happy inevitability about it! With my design background, profession in model making, love of the coast and unashamed pleasure in spending hours in a shed, it seemed the perfect mix.
Drydock is run by me, Simon Mouncey. I tramp the beach looking for interesting bits, design the pieces, then build them. I do it because I love it; the texture and the feel of the wood and the life they had before they ended up in my bag, not withstanding the fact they can be turned into something useful.
This photo is me assessing the days haul at Braystones beach in Cumbria. Tools of the trade; sun hat for those all too rare days, big rucksack for the taller bits, small shoulder bag for the rest, and as many strong carrier bags as you can jam in your pockets. Another essential is a saw for those heavy bits you just cannot carry in one trip. The saw is also another attempt to allay the raw despair of having to walk away from a chunk a tractor would have trouble lifting...you always remember the bits you didn't bring back!
