The Team
I began thatching in 1972 by starting a four-year apprenticeship in Somerset. Two years after finishing my training I moved to the South Midlands. During this time I became keen to help establish a training structure in the trade. Some thatchers are self-taught and others are partly taught; in that sense the industry was completely unregulated. I spent 10 years on a committee drawing up the national vocational qualification (NVQ) which was finalised around 2000.
To people like myself and my colleagues David Pratt, Iain Jones and Paul Clemons thatching is more a way of life than a mere job. Come rain or shine, thatchers like ourselves ply our craft irrespective of whether it is winter or summer. A lot of people think we just work through the summer but it's an all-year-round occupation.
The fact is that working in the rain, unless it's torrential, makes absolutely no difference. Thatch needs to keep moist, and thatchers generally prefer working with it when it is damp. If it is too dry, it becomes brittle. A few showers don't bother us because we tend to moisten the straw overnight, to soften it. It makes it easier to work with.
