FOLLOWING GENERATIONS OF BASKET MAKERS CLAIRE GAUDION IS WEAVING, DEMONSTRATING AND PRESERVING THIS UNIQUE GUERNSEY HERITAGE CRAFT

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BE PART OF A UNIQUE CRAFT TRADITION

  • Small old french willow Guernsey ponier à cou and medium brittany green willow basket.

    Baskets

    My online shop - for traditional Guernsey fishing baskets, including ponier à... 

    Baskets

  • Guernsey willow baskets

    Courses

    Learn to make Guernsey willow baskets with me, Claire Gaudion. I run... 

    Courses

“Thank you so much for a wonderful basketmaking course. It was first rate in every respect! I really appreciated your patience, clear instructions, kindness and flexibility. It was fascinating also to learn about the history of the basket and something of your family's working life and continuing of traditions. Heartwarming stuff!” Jill E. 

courses & workshops

Claire runs traditional Guernsey basket making workshops, both independently, and in collaboration with her Dad, Max Gaudion, in both Guernsey and the UK. Sharing knowledge with others is an important step in preserving this treasured heritage craft.

EXPLORE WORKSHOPS

  • “I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop with Claire, where she taught the heritage basket ponier à cou. Her knowledge and enthusiasm really shone through, and her patient, encouraging teaching style was greatly appreciated. Having attended many basketry workshops over the years, I can confidently say this was one of the very best.” 

    Angela Firth

  • “Thank you so much for such fabulous teaching and such an enjoyable course. Your patience and cheerfulness are second to none and I really appreciated your generosity in sharing even the most subtle of your tips and so clearly explaining the finest details… it was a real treat to be totally absorbed in the making of such a lovely basket, so rich in heritage and with lots of uses even if we can’t go Ormering!”

    Linda Lemieux

  • “I just spent an enjoyable weekend making a ponier a cou with Claire along with other members of the basket makers south west. Claire was great company and a brilliant teacher. She helped us all to make baskets to be proud of. We had a lot of individual attention and she was very sensitive to the varying levels of help and direction needed by people with different levels of previous experience. It was really nice to learn about the history of the basket we were making along the way. I would thoroughly recommend her course.”

    Anne Beer

  • "I booked a special present to myself - a willow weaving course with Max & Claire Gaudion. I had no idea what to expect and was both astonished & delighted to create (and complete) from scratch, a delightful ponier à cou in only 2 days. All the way through the course Claire was attentive and helpful and full of the historical facts about this very Guernsey specific craft. I enjoyed myself enormously and have a beautiful & practical basket as a wonderful reminder. I would suggest these courses are suitable for all levels and that you can go at a different pace from your colleagues and still get superb results."

    Rachael L.

  • "I thoroughly enjoyed my two days with Claire and Max Gaudion learning the heritage craft of basket weaving. They patiently took us through each step explaining everything with humour and anecdotes as we went along. They both have great skills and compliment each other beautifully. Everyone came away with a beautiful ponier á cou and a smile. A fantastic two days!" 

    Denise F.

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