West Berkshire Bowrod Bitter

Basket making is still widely practised throughout the country and many different materials can be used. Withy (willow) is used around the Thames, along with Hazel, Dogwood, Bramble, Briar, Honeysuckle, Broom and many others giving a range of colours and textures. The Bowrod is a bent rod of good proportions that forms the heart of the handle on a basket.

The pumpclip shows osier peeling at Fisher Row, Oxford with Emily Mullins of Silver Street, Reading, weaving a basket in the background. In the foreground is a cellar basket for bottles from Banbury, a cherry picking basket from Wantage and a brewery basket which we think was used to carry hops from Chipping Norton. The inspiration for this pumpclip came from archive images held by the Museum of English Rural Life, Reading and the Oxfordshire Museum Service website.