For over 900 years the New Forest has been managed woodland. The heathland has been created by 4000 years of grazing, heather burning and clearance, but the areas of woodland have also been changed by
For over 900 years the New Forest has been managed woodland.
The heathland has been created by 4000 years of grazing, heather burning and clearance, but the areas of woodland have also been changed by those who lived and worked in the area. Used for hunting throughout the centuries the practice of silviculture has also been vital across the wooded areas – raising and tending the trees for the benefit of mankind, including timber production. Grazing stock prevent the trees developing so enclosed areas have been set aside. During the Victorian era, 1000 acres was fenced in to create inclosures and the regeneration of traditional species has expanded since the 1949 New Forest Act.
Originally the natural woodland species were oak, beech, birch, alder and ash with some willows, aspen, yew, crab-apple, hawthorns, blackthorns, and lime trees. Forest dwellers have engaged in coppicing and pollarding, using the wood for furniture, fuel, boards, baskets and fencing as well as to make toys, musical instruments, pegs, poles, masts and to burn for charcoal.
Large-scale re-planting has been occurring since the 17th century to replenish the great trees felled for the building of naval ships since Tudor times. The two World Wars further increased demand for New Forest timber and the planned management of the wooded areas has continued. The emphasis recently has been to restore habitats and improve the lasting sustainability of the forest.
Artisans using wood in the New Forest today have a clear desire to protect and value the timber from the forest, producing their wares from ethical sources creating unique and bespoke items. New Forest Marque members are committed to preserving the wellbeing of the woodland and celebrating the very special resources they are using.
Wild Wood Table is one of the companies creating one-off furniture and items such as hearths and timbers for building, using air-dried New Forest timber. Kingsley from Wild Wood has a shop in Fordingbridge and sells on Etsy and can be contacted on 07970 666654 or email kingsley@wildwoodtable.com . He uses a sawmill to cut sections from the chosen timber, which is then left to dry with each piece being planned and developed with the involvement of the person who has commissioned the item – an individual, traceable, and ethically sourced one-off! His saw bench can handle timber as large as 1mx8.5mx6.5m and he prefers to air-dry over up to two years to minimise the use of energy. Inspired by the furniture made by George Nakashima, Kingsley produces pieces with wavy bark edges and especially likes working with brown oak as it gradually reveals its grain and colour. Wild Wood Table prepares quarter sawn boards for furniture makers and is known for its clean lines and sustainable ethos.
Another local artisan who takes their customers wood from the tree to the table, managing the tree surgery, processing, and crafting of products is Alex from BearWood. Passionate about being local, small-scale, and sustainable, Alex uses wood from trees that are dead, decaying, or dangerous. He and his partner, Rebecca can be contacted on 07873 578436 or via email alex@bear-wood.co.uk to arrange tree surgery, onsite sawmilling, timber sales and bespoke woodwork. Alex does not want to waste any part of the felled wood, so they not only make large custom-designed furniture, mantels and building pieces, but also coasters, business card holders, serving boards and even cufflinks! Even the left-over sawdust goes to a local campsite for their composting toilets.
With a motto of Locally Grown, Locally Milled and Locally Made, BearWood pride themselves in creating elegant and unique items, sometimes incorporating resin and metal. The timber is either kiln-dried, air-dried, or fresh sawn and each item will take different times from the idea to the completed design. Bear Wood can be seen in operation at events like the Roydon Wood Fair and the New Forest Show – Alex just loves talking to people about his work and to spread the word about his sustainable approach.
Alex initially trained and worked as a tree surgeon after studying at Sparsholt College. He developed BearWood as he felt it was sacrilege to cut up timber for firewood, so he started doing his own milling and coming up with other uses for all the timber remaining from felling a tree. He likes being able to tell customers which tree every item comes from and the story behind each piece of timber that led to it being made into a unique final product. A table for outside could be prepared quickly, but an indoor table, for instance, could take a long time – a rough guide is that it takes about a year per inch of wood thickness to dry out before it can be used indoors.
Musical instruments have been made from New Forest wood through the centuries and local luthier, Alex Potter, is now building guitars made entirely from locally sourced timber. In general, the musical instrument industry is heavily reliant on tropical or scarce timbers, so his focus is to encourage musicians to move away from this to using sustainable, replaceable, and recycled timber. Working closely with sawmills and tree surgeons in the New Forest, including Alex at Bear Wood, Alex can now provide and prepare wood for all the components of instruments, building to his customers particular specifications.
Alex trained in London, gaining an MA based on the reconstruction of lost musical instruments and has been working for 10 years as a luthier, the last four from his new Forest workshop in Sway. He runs workshops and can restore, repair, and maintain instruments while building guitars for individual musicians. During lockdown, Alex worked on a range of ukuleles, which will soon be on sale in a Bournemouth music shop. He can be contacted via his website www.aspotterinstruments.com and is a New Forest Marque member.
All images supplied by the companies featured – many thanks. Feature image from BearWood.