JO HAYWOOD meets a York artisan who hopes to pass her skills on to a new generation of women.

A CHAIR is just a chair. You sit on it. That's it. Job done. But sometimes a chair is not just a chair, it is an opportunity to learn new skills and earn some cash.

Rosemary Hawksford, who has painstakingly restored cane chairs for more than 20 years, is running a chair caning course at the Priory Street Centre until February 4 in the hope of passing on some of her finely-honed skills to a new generation.

The classes will be held every Friday from 10am to 3pm and are aimed at beginners. The whole course costs £120, but don't be put off if you can't afford it as concessions can usually be agreed.

Although primarily aimed at women with young children, anyone is welcome to have a go. You don't even have to have your own chair - there are lots in Rosemary's workshop waiting to be given a new lease of life.

"I love this work, and have loved it for more than 20 years," she said as she poured a warming mug of coffee to take away the January chill in her Nissen hut workshop in the grounds of St Mary's Church, Bishophill. "But the time is right for me to pass it on.

"My energy doesn't seem to be concentrated in my hands any more. When I was in my 20s I could work on a chair for eight or nine hours at a time. Now that I'm in my mid 40s, I can't work like that."

Charlotte Trueman, who is in her 20s and has two young sons, George and Joe, is one of the women already signed up to the chair caning course.

"I love making things," she said, "but I've never done anything like this before.

"I think it's especially important to do some work with your hands when you have small children, otherwise you can start to lose your marbles a bit.

"Work like this gives you something to think about and focus on. It's a very therapeutic process."

Rosemary agreed: "There is a very strong relationship between the hands and the mind. Working with your hands allows you to think freely."

Freedom to think is not the only aim of the course. It is also offering women an opportunity to learn a new skill that could earn them a decent living.

Anyone who completes the course will be proficient in cane chair repair and could set up their own business.

"There is plenty of work around and this is a relatively rare skill these days," said Rosemary. "I have a workshop full of chairs waiting to be re-seated, so a willing band of new apprentices would be nice!"

Chair caning is not a difficult skill to master, but it takes patience and practice. It is not something that is likely to make you millions, but the advantages don't necessarily have to be financial.

"It's my belief that it's better to mend and restore than to buy new," said Rosemary. "It's not just better for the environment, it's better for you. It gives you a real sense of contentment and well-being to know you have repaired something and made it useful again."

Charlotte, who found the chair she wants to repair in a skip, is also a firm believer in restoring the old instead of investing in the new.

"It's a Victorian nursing chair with a big hole in the seat, but it has the potential to be lovely," she said. "It just needs revitalising.

"I don't understand why people automatically throw things away when they can be repaired. Yes, it can be expensive to repair things, but it's worth it on so many levels."

Rosemary has been an active member of women's co-operatives since leaving university, where she completed an MA in religious studies.

She is a member of an informal collective, known as DreamGround, made up of five women whose children all go to the Steiner School in Fulford.

They first came together on a project to erect a yurt, the Mongolian equivalent of a North American wigwam, on St Nicholas Fields. Since then they have run various sessions on subjects from willow weaving to perma culture (a system of gardening that promotes a sustainable way of life for both the gardener and the land).

Now, however, Rosemary feels the time is ripe for a new, wider-reaching collective. She hopes her course might prove to be the ideal starting point.

"I like the idea of a group of women coming together with different skills and ideas," she said. "It feels like a really good time to get something going.

"There's a real ground swell in York at the moment. There are lots of little groups cropping up all over the place. It would be amazing if we could all come together somehow."

Whatever happens, Rosemary feels that 2005 is going to be a year of change for her. She wants to pass on her chair repair skills to another generation to free herself up to try other things.

"Ideally I would like to hide myself away and write a book or set up a retreat outside the city," she said. "I can't see that I will be here next year. Where I will be, however, is anybody's guess."

For more details or to book a place on the chair caning course, phone Rosemary Hawksford on 01904 651407.

Updated: 09:49 Tuesday, January 11, 2005