With the overcoming of jet lag as a relatively honest excuse, I spent the better part of Thursday morning sleeping in. It was grey outside, threatening rain, more or less the
norm in the UK, and it felt as if there was little beckoning me to arise at a reasonable hour. That said, I headed outside to find Ben with a his Woodland Management course, milling up a 16" diameter oak log on his mobil 'LumberMate' bandsaw sawmill. They had squared up three of four sides by the time I arrived, and I was disappointed to have missed the discussion as to how the determined the best way to approach the log based on the product (4x4 and 3x6 boards for a pergola) they were looking to produce.
Once they had squared up the log, the processing went very smoothly, extracting some gorgeous oak lumber from a sawlog that just a few years ago would have been worth very little to Ben in and of itself. After reducing the stem to a bunch of 'big sticks', it was time for lunch and tea around the outdoor kitchen.
The outdoor kitchen at Prickly Nut Wood is the operation central during the spring, summ
er and fall. With meals cooked on the open fire, it makes for a wonderful conversational setting, in the shade of a rustic cruck timber frame set against the backdrop of a massive fallen chestnut stool (coppice regrowth) that still continues to resprout despite its horizontality.
After lunch we gathered for a hands on craft/value adding session. The students worked together to produce two rustic chestnut trellis panels - they were joined using rough mortise and tenon joinery and feature woven hand-split chestnut wattle in-between the frame. They're very beautiful and make wonderful garden backdrops. They also represent a relatively simple means of adding value to a small quantity of chestnut coppice. The teams did a good job working together and while they were at it, I took an opportunity to wander through the coppice woods to the south of Ben's homestead.
Much of this area is 'overstood' or derelict coppice, meaning that it hasn't been cut for quite some time and will require a fair amount of work (with limited financial return - much of the product is unusable for craft and really is only good for firewood) in order to bring it back into rotation. As I'd
been told, the harsh winter they'd experienced there this season left them at least two weeks behind where they'd otherwise be in a normal spring. The precious ephemeral bluebells were just beginning to emerge, with their glossy green foliage carpeting the forest floor though no heart melting blossoms yet to my dismay. As I wandered through the coppice, the memories from seven (or perhaps six) years ago came flooding back of a much simpler life that revolved around the woods. It was one of the most fulfilling times of my life and it will forever remain as one of my most formative experiences. I made my way back to Ben's, checking on the cants (area of coppice) that we had felled during my season there on the way.
It wasn't long before the woodland management course was complete (it concluded around the fire in the outdoor kitchen with a discussion on 'pests and their management' in the coppice) and afterwards Ben and I headed off to visit the new general store in the village of Lodsworth - the small hamlet where Ben lives. The 'Lodsworth Larder' is a new installation, courtesy of Ben and his roundwood timber framing crew and company - a gorgeous project built (with a few exceptions - lime...) using materials that had traveled less than five miles to the construction site. It's another c
hestnut cruck frame - a timber framed structure that features joined A-frame shaped bents which carry the ridge pole (the primary member of the roof system). The (I believe) straw bale walls are lime plastered and the roof is covered with locally sawn chestnut shingles. The interior features some beautiful detail work, including woven wattle panels and a great staircase. All in all, it's a gorgeous structure, and what might be most impressive is that it was built in only four months. You can read more about it in the most recent issue of the British Permaculture Magazine.
After checking out the store - I forgot to mention that it was full of wonderful local foods (cheeses, beer, milk, bread...) - Ben and I nipped into the neighboring Hollist country pub for a pint. I love the country pub atmosphere and it's probably a good thing I don't live too close to them as I may likely end up moving in (or at least spending most of my free time there). More catching up and great local beer which I found out is being produced just up the street by Ben's good friends Steve and James - two gents I came to know during my stint there years back. We spent a good little while with their delicious 'Hip Hop' Ale and headed back home for a meal. Who knew Lodsworth was becoming the center of the universe?
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