07/07/2025
What we do and why we do it…
We use a ring kiln to produce our charcoal. This works very well for us as we can easily move the kiln to the wood, or at least a place where we can easily move the wood also. We cleared this glade last winter, removing dead ash which we are burning and Douglas fir which we sold as part of a round wood timber frame.
Charcoal burning is for us a management tool for hedgerows and woodland, something to use the materials that otherwise don’t have a use. Wood that’s too small for firewood. Waste wood is great for wildlife but a well managed healthy woodland ecosystems is a far more valuable aspiration for all, and a system that utilises as much product as possible is more sustainable. We commit allot back to nature, but we’re making sure we’re making the most of the materials from the unpaid work we do to keep the woods in management. The balance is key and sustainable management is the goal.
In comparison, the imported petrol station charcoal is basically untraceable in its origin. There were efforts to trace it and most was found to come from unknown sources, anywhere from West Africa to Eastern Europe. The only on the shelf charcoal that lets you know who and where has made it is Co-op charcoal, which is Acacia wood from one of 4 communities in Nigeria that make it. This isn’t the worst news, but it isn’t acceptable when we are failing to manage our own woodlands sustainably and the resilience of our woodlands is under threat from the effects of imported forest products, unsustainable markets and business models and a depressed economy.
The state of the UK economy means that British charcoal is nearer a luxury product then it ought to be, which is why we work hard telling the story, going to shows and fairs and using social media to make the case that British charcoal is a worthy investment.
