Mon Repos owners Scott and Rebecca Rowlings have given locals an opportunity to learn a new trade through their courses.

While Mrs Rowlings handles the background work, her husband runs the increasingly popular workshops.

Mr Rowlings said that they were inspired to run courses during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

“What inspired it all was… during the middle of Covid, everyone was staying home and people needed hobbies, people wanted to do stuff,” Mr. Rowlings said.

“We started running night woodwork classes, and then people were asking about other classes we could run, and that’s sort of where it took off from.

“The response has been really, really good … The woodwork classes this term are running three times a week, and the grandfather trade classes, are running three or four different ones a month, and some of them are booking out within an hour of me advertising them.”

Mr Rowlings grew up in a family who were always crafting, cooking, or repairing and hopes to inspire others through his courses to be more hands-on.

For Mr Rowlings, it is rewarding work as he enjoys seeing people’s reactions when they complete a project.

“When people finish making something… seeing people stand back and go holy, I made that, I did that that’s a really rewarding part of it,” Mr Rowlings said.

The other rewarding part is that 80% of the students here are female… and a bit of that is empowering ladies… showing people how to use tools in a safe way and they suddenly have a lot more confidence in themselves, and that’s an amazing thing to be a part of.”

The couple continues to teach at the Narrandera High School during the week while also running their business Mon Repos and teaching classes at night, so they are always doing something.

There are currently woodwork and blacksmith courses at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels available, as well as the option to bring in your own object to be restored.

Their newest addition, “Grandfather Trades” is already growing in popularity and allows people to take part in forgotten crafts such as leatherworking and soap making with teachers from around the region.

As well as their two day blacksmithing beginner class, they noticed that students become rather sore and tired towards the end of the two days so the Rowlings are also introducing a one day Basic Beginner class suitable for those who would like a less strenuous start to blacksmithing. Students will still learn the basics of blacksmithing including correct hammer technique, punching holes, tapering and scrolling while making a couple small projects including S Hooks and bottle openers.

The ‘Grandfather Trades’ allows people to take part in forgotten crafts such as leatherworking and soap making with teachers from around the region. 

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 10 August 2023.