Materials

I work with both Wheat Reed and Water Reed:

Wheat Read - Cut with a binder and then threshed with a reed comber. Traditional varieties include Maris Widgeon, Square head Master, huntsmen and No.59. I also use Triticale which is a mixture between Wheat and Rye. Wheat reed is laid traditional on a roof in courses. Fixed down using hazel spars, liggers and straw bonds then trimmed down using a shearing hook.

Water Reed - Water reed has thicker walls than wheat straw, which makes it a much harder material and generally will last much longer on a roof. Alot of water reed is imported from countries such as Turkey, Austria, Poland and Hungary.

Tools

Here is a selection of my tools that I use on a regular basis.

The hooks going from left to right, starting with an eve's knife then onto large shearing hooks, a small shearing hook and a left hand shearing hook. Various spar hooks (top right).

To the bottom left and right are the biddles with thatchers needles in the centre.