Squaredy

Well they did go soft on them eventually yes. The initial terms of the Treaty of Versailles however were very humiliating and impossible for any country to comply with. So to an extent they really had no choice but to go a bit soft as the original terms were unworkable. We created a perfect ground for someone like Hitler to exploit.

I know you have already been corrected on this but it might be worth reading up on the causes of World War 2. To an extent it was down to Germany being punished severely and stripped of much of their land in the Treaty of Versailles. The USA came up with a list of fourteen principles that were meant to be enshrined in the treaty and how the defeated Germany were to be treated. Every single one was broken by the allies.

It looks as if there is rot in one of them which will affect the value. If I milled them for a customer I would charge probably £30 per cubic foot. Shorter beams would be less; I charge a premium for long beams. But as it is unlikely they will exactly match anyone’s need the seller will have to be realistic. If he gets £20 per cube he should be happy.

We should start a History thread maybe...

Thank you very interesting. I am aware of the difference in living standards post war in the USA and the UK and much of Europe. But I wasn't aware about the trade so I will be reading about this. I often say to people I know that WW2 was in effect won by the USA and lost by Europe. Which is not to deny the incredible efforts of the UK, France, and a host of other nations - it is just that even the so-called winners in Europe were losers in reality.

Douglas or larch I would say.

Bit of a derail I know, but how did the UK get hung out to dry by the Marshall plan? Incidentally hopefully you know that we never paid back our WW1 debts to the USA and we very much betrayed them in the aftermath of WW1. Yet still they gave us $31 billion for WW2. What would that be worth today?

That is bizarre. I guess you will have to go and have a chat with them at the sorting office. Sounds like your local office have a few problems.

From someone who has milled many wide slabs over the years, I have a tip. Try softwoods, especially cedar of Lebanon, sequoia, pine. They behave really well. The hardwoods like oak and ash that you could mill in the UK love to move and twist all over the place.

Yeah that is a lovely room, fair play. I would say the actual building built from ash is way more impressive than the table. Not dissing the table at all but many people could do that; few try and construct a real wood conservatory these days. Well done.

I am sure someone will have a use for those beams. The problem as always is finding that goldilocks customer. Many customers would want lots of them, and others will only want a 6ft piece etc. I think the way to go is Facebook marketplace. Include photos and as much info as possible in the advert. I will say though I don't think they are tropical hardwood. Zoom in on the end grain and you can clearly see the springwood and summerwood. It looks exactly like a quality softwood - pitch pine, or even larch or douglas fir. This doesn't make them any less useful in my view. If you want to get a better idea cross cut a couple of inches off one end.

My area is certainly less often than in times past, but still a few times a week. I believe it is down to reduced amount of post and therefore it is no longer economical to deliver six times a week but the Universal Service Obligation means they have to by law. In my opinion all we need is a strong government who amend the USO to three days a week. Instead of course we have successive governments doing nothing and so we have this farce where everyone knows they no longer deliver six days a week, but officially they do.

Ah, maybe.

So what do you think should happen to you if and when you become too frail or ill to look after yourself?

Ah that makes sense that it was added in fairly modern times, it clearly post-dates the original horse drawn barges. Also that they would provide such a ramp due to a heritage horse drawn operation. I guess when the canals were actually built if a horse fell in they found some other way of escape.