Alf
Established Member
Well I popped along to The Lost Gardens of Heligan this am, prompted by a snippet in the new GWW about them getting more serious about selling their timber. Well they are, but not quite ready yet!
Had the full guided tour from Andy Giles, who's a very nice man and you can tell really likes his timbers. Saw their 'ickle mill, stacks of Sycamore (well uprights of that really), Sweet Chestnut, Sequioa, Yew, Rhododenron, Spalted Beech etc etc under cover. Not huge quantities by any means; this is a very small scale operation, but personally I like that. Also saw their kiln, the operational bit of it currently back at Arrowsmith's having it's refrigeration unit fixed, which can take 300 cubic feet. At least I think that's how much he said; I was too busy gazing at the Sycamore, Chestnut and Sequioa (Californian redwood) contained therein. The latter was the most fabulous colour - does it stay like that? Alas the course at Arrowsmith has done its worst, and Andy's been persuaded to kiln dry straight from the green, and forget about any air drying. Sigh. For a moment there I had hopes - pesky kiln drying. Yeah, it has many benefits, but air dried stuff is so much nicer to work.
Poor fellow was rushed off his feet and wasn't terribly thrilled that GWW's bit about them was already out! :roll: :lol: I gather the plan is to get a rack put up near the shop area early next week with various odd boards on for people to buy. More as "souvenirs" I think, rather than serious wood buying. However I have hopes we can winkle out something more from him, with some effort. :wink: Six cubic feet of the sycamore is due to be taken up to David Charlesworth next week, and Tom, the furniture making fellow at Heligan, is apparently going too in order to get some hands on sharpening advice. Sigh. Plenty of timber in Devon. What's he want it from Cornwall for? :roll: :lol:
I've left my details with him and we'll see. I've come away with a couple of their turning blanks in order to get a bit of a feel for the timber - sycamore and a chunk of toona sinensis or Chinese Cedar. Andy reckons it should be called Pink Ash, and it's a pretty good name for it. No good getting keen on using it though; only one tree of it in the garden and that's it! Anyway, it's certainly the first time I've really felt inspired by wood from anywhere round here, so that can't be bad. And Tom's furniture that they're selling is really nice stuff, btw. Well worth a goof if you're down this way on your holidays.
Cheers, Alf
Had the full guided tour from Andy Giles, who's a very nice man and you can tell really likes his timbers. Saw their 'ickle mill, stacks of Sycamore (well uprights of that really), Sweet Chestnut, Sequioa, Yew, Rhododenron, Spalted Beech etc etc under cover. Not huge quantities by any means; this is a very small scale operation, but personally I like that. Also saw their kiln, the operational bit of it currently back at Arrowsmith's having it's refrigeration unit fixed, which can take 300 cubic feet. At least I think that's how much he said; I was too busy gazing at the Sycamore, Chestnut and Sequioa (Californian redwood) contained therein. The latter was the most fabulous colour - does it stay like that? Alas the course at Arrowsmith has done its worst, and Andy's been persuaded to kiln dry straight from the green, and forget about any air drying. Sigh. For a moment there I had hopes - pesky kiln drying. Yeah, it has many benefits, but air dried stuff is so much nicer to work.
Poor fellow was rushed off his feet and wasn't terribly thrilled that GWW's bit about them was already out! :roll: :lol: I gather the plan is to get a rack put up near the shop area early next week with various odd boards on for people to buy. More as "souvenirs" I think, rather than serious wood buying. However I have hopes we can winkle out something more from him, with some effort. :wink: Six cubic feet of the sycamore is due to be taken up to David Charlesworth next week, and Tom, the furniture making fellow at Heligan, is apparently going too in order to get some hands on sharpening advice.
Sigh. Plenty of timber in Devon. What's he want it from Cornwall for? :roll: :lol: I've left my details with him and we'll see. I've come away with a couple of their turning blanks in order to get a bit of a feel for the timber - sycamore and a chunk of toona sinensis or Chinese Cedar. Andy reckons it should be called Pink Ash, and it's a pretty good name for it. No good getting keen on using it though; only one tree of it in the garden and that's it! Anyway, it's certainly the first time I've really felt inspired by wood from anywhere round here, so that can't be bad. And Tom's furniture that they're selling is really nice stuff, btw. Well worth a goof if you're down this way on your holidays.
Cheers, Alf
