Three bad storms since my last visit and I needed to go yesterday to check for damage. I wasn’t too worried about the trees. Any that came down were probably weak or dead, I was mainly concerned that my new shelter was unharmed, it has withstood the winds well and no damage done. It was a clear sunny morning when I arrived but still a reasonable wind blowing that would put a hold on the prospects of continuing my felling operations. I had enough jobs to keep me busy and one of my mates was spending the day with me too. A walkabout revealed a small amount of damage, the worst being a dead birch that had blown over and got entangled in another tree. It was right between where I park my car and my bench where I have a brew and base my days activities, so it needs to come down. I think the safest and most effective way is to take the Tirfor and winch it out from the base. There is no chance of dislodging it by hand pulling or undercutting it to make it drop. It would simply hang there even more dangerous. We found another three small and dead trees had fallen, one had a nest box attached so that was re-sited ready for the nesting season.
It was one of those magical mornings, when the sun lights up the winter woods and the birds are out in force. Spring is definitely on the move. We hung out at the shelter for a while, discussing a few plans to develop it – an additional small roofed section at the back to house some of the large equipment and make room inside; a small log store on the end and some long shelves inside to store timber. This is phase two and I’m quite excited as it will take me closer to getting it functioning as a blacksmith and green woodworking workshop. The weak sun warmed our souls as well as our bodies.
We stood for ages in the hazel copse chatting and watching the various birds – a buzzard wheeled above then landed in a tree a hundred metres away. A jay with it’s beautiful colours passed through and numerous small birds flitted back and forth in the branches above us. A robin landed close by to check us out. We remarked how privileged we were to be amongst this beautiful piece of nature. This photo is of one of my favourite spots. Two ash trees and three hazels straddle the remains of an ancient ditch and bank structure which runs right through the woods. When the low early sun hits it, it has an enchanting appearance.
Our neighbours arrived to continue processing the huge beech they recently felled. We are hoping to get some slices out of it to make two or three stools but the trunk is so large and heavy that even cutting a slice to cleave into seat tops is a real challenge. The chainsaw bar is only long enough to cut half way through so I proposed a plan to cut half way down from both sides to meet in the middle, effectively creating a continuous cut that goes halfway through. Then using large steel wedges hammered into the open end, cleave the top half off. With a huge amount of brute force, the sound of splintering inside the trunk indicated that it was starting to split and eventually parted ways with the main trunk. I further split it down in half then one half of that split into two. The remaining pieces were still so heavy that they could only just be lifted. My friends kindly let me take some pieces, one for a chopping block and two to have a go at making some sort of rough rustic stools. They will be experiments to see how the timber can be worked and hopefully make some more refined stools later in the year. What a fantastic day.
