The Morris Federation launched a series of online workshops, talks and demos over Winter 2020-2021. Here is a review of the demonstration of clogmaking by Simon Brock in November 2020 to around 70 participants.
“Simon is relatively new to the clog making world although he has spent 10 years learning carpentry and leatherwork. He makes dancing clogs primarily but also supplies them as general footwear.
“He took us from a piece of tree through every production step ending up with a complete pair of clogs.
“Camerawork by Catherine Williams was excellent, with appropriate zoom control to show details as Simon explained. The talk was well thought out, excluding noisy or lengthy processes and Simon has a natural, friendly manner of presentation.
“We were shown a variety of different clogs, both in style and colour. I particularly liked the leopard print textured finish!
“An interesting question and answer session at the end led to further information including balance points, vegan ’leather’, different crimps and decorations and attaching irons or rubbers.
“During the COVID pandemic, orders for dance clogs have dwindled so it is to be hoped that the festival season is able to restart soon, and his order book replenished.
“This was a very interesting and informative session, well presented and attended by about 70 people.
by Jenny Everett, Treasurer, The Morris Federation
A woodworker since leaving school, Simon Brock has been making clogs full time for nearly 3 years, mainly supplying step dancers and morris dancers. He is one of only a handful of people left making traditional, British-style clogs commercially in the UK; and can [normally] be found selling clogs at step dancing events and festivals throughout the year.
See his web site: http://simonbrock.co.uk/
Donations from participants raised money for Medecins Sans Frontieres: https://www.msf.org/donate. Simon normally runs a Sheffield Village Carols event in December at a pub near Penistone, during which a collection typically raises around £300 for this excellent organisation. The collection will not be taking place this year for obvious reasons. And some also bought Simon a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/simonbrockclogs