Build a Wild Wicker Beast - A Side by Side Project

Stefan Jennings is leading a drop-in workshop at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum on Sunday 1 November, from 10.30am to 4pm. It's called Build a Wild Wicker Beast, and the whole thing takes place in the museum's courtyard.

The idea is simple: you drop in and help craft large willow creatures, working shoulder to shoulder with Jennings, a West Country-based craftsman. You'll be twisting and bending sticks into powerful beasts that might turn out as a bear, a deer, a boar or a wild cat. The creatures are meant to watch over you through the coming dark days, and they'll go on display at the museum the following year, so whatever you help build stays part of the collection.

There's a folk side to it, too. You can tie your winter wish on an indoor rag tree, and once you've had your hand in the making, there's a spread to reward you: mulled cider, Devon apple cake, and a chunk of traditional bread baked from the last wheat of the harvest. There's also a giant wheatsheaf-shaped loaf from local One Mile Bakery. All ages are welcome and you don't need any experience to join in.

It's free and drop-in, so you can turn up whenever suits you between 10.30am and 4pm on Sunday 1 November at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum courtyard, Queen Street, Exeter.