Squaredy

Thank you Nepia, but I was hoping posters might give reasons.... Is the lovely old Cedar by the roadside at the end of Caterham on the Hill still lovely? If ever a Cedar was in a dodgy position it was that one...

I have a few opinions of trees which are under-valued or not planted enough. I am no forester however, and I am very interested to find out what other people think. I will kick it off with Walnut, and Leylandii (or indeed other cypresses). Why do we not plant more Walnut? Does it not grow well in our woods? If I were a landowner I would certainly be looking into it as no other UK tree can get close to it for value. Well, Oak parcels have in some instances sold recently for £300 to £500 per cubic metre roadside, but that is a bit exceptional. And as for Leylandii there is no other tree that can rival it for rate of growth, and when grown in a forest setting it grows clean and straight and produces light yet durable timber. The Japanese and Americans value cypress very much; why don't we? Because we think it is just an overgrown hedge and could not possibly yield quality timber?

Can't advise you on regulations, but realistically if fire is your worry then unless there is electricity in the building the only real fire risk is arson. To the best of my knowledge firewood cannot spontaneously combust like coal can, so it is only going to catch if someone lights it deliberately or by a very stupid accident. I would say the fire risk of logs is much smaller than the fire risk posed by hay or straw.

It is amazing how often the owner says the tree has no nails in. How they can know that for a tree 50 years older than them I cannot imagine.

Think of the poor police men and women who have to enforce this nonsense! Just thought of something, are English citizens only allowed to drive 5 miles in Wales?

Indeed Mr Eggs. And since I posted this morning the Welsh top guy has said in Wales we can visit other people but not travel over 5 miles. So what about someone in Chepstow who wants to visit a mate just over the border (a mile or so) should he follow the Welsh rules or the English ones......? What a farce.

So lockdown continues to be lifted.....in England. I still can't even take my family for a trip to a local forest. Not even the forest where I work every day. Apparently Prince Drakeford will be announcing something today....let's hope it is a little more freedom as I think many people round here are just ignoring the lockdown anyway.

I assumed you meant cupping across the width of the grain - this is how slabs usually cup. If it is bowed along its length this is a little different. Might be worth just cutting up into smaller pieces that can then be planed flat. All depends on the size - would it still be a good size for smaller table tops for instance? Certainly you can't really cross-cut it and then join it strongly, not without something strong to fix it to anyway.

Quite right I had no mobile phone 25 years ago, indeed I managed pretty much without the internet, as so little was on the net back then. I remember having to fax my CV in response to job adverts all the time as although I used email none of the agencies did! But, other than meaning I look up on google to find a phone number and sometimes I can find good info via internet, how much difference has it made to my job as a very small sawmill? Sawmilling has been improved by narrow bandsaw technology (woodmizer etc). Forestry contractors are more automated - which is sometimes a benefit, and sometimes a drawback as the old fashioned ways are now specialised not mainstream. Marketing is partly web based, though as I am very niche, word of mouth is far more important for me. I freely admit I am a bit of a luddite, but my life and my job are not transformed due to technology. Tweaked maybe but no more. Even the obvious benefit that you refer to - having the knowledge of the world at your fingetips - although sometimes very useful, for the most part the knowledge was always out there - just needed different techniques to find. Now a question can be answered in a few seconds, but then maybe hours spent verifying the answer and checking, as the net is so awash with half facts, and plain nonsense!

Mmmm the luddite movement (protesting at machines replacing workers) dates back to 1811 according to Wikipedia, and yet we still seem to need millions of humans, even if a fair proportion of them are designing, building, supporting machinery etc. Have you tried letting a robot cut your hair, or cook you a pizza?! My experience is they can't even deal with a simple query about my bank account, never mind a million and one other unique tasks.

Best way to deal with it is simply to slice the boards into two pieces, plane the separate pieces and then joint them. With the correct equipment this is not difficult. If you are simply looking to sell them I would sell them as is - many of your customers will know how to deal with the cupping. For a skilled woodworker it is no big deal and will result in a stable slab. Nice looking timber by the way.

I used to think the Telegraph was one of the more reputable papers. Are they seriously trying to suggest the beaches were busy because of Dominic Cummings? Not the beautiful weather and the bank holiday and the fact that everywhere indoors is shut so half the population is heading to outdoor beauty spots? How stupid do they think we are? As far as I recall, in England you are now allowed to travel to beaches, so did anyone really expect the beaches to be quiet???!! Despite what the Telegraph article says the beachgoers are not breaking the rules. I noticed finally a bit of balance in the news re packed beaches. Remember the pics of Southend Beach looking a bit on the full side? Well here is the local newspaper's take on it, with photos from above. The man who shot the drone footage said "There were packed beaches, although people seemed to be social distancing, coping with restrictions and being sensible". Amazing drone footage shows thousands packed onto Southend beach (but at a safe social distance!) WWW.ECHO-NEWS.CO.UK THOUSANDS of daytrippers appeared to respect social distancing guidelines as they lined the town’s beaches yesterday.

Ash logs also get exactly the same looking beetle galleries under the bark.

Is it an Oak? Mighty funny oak if you ask me!

Yes indeed that is what I found out also, Belgium is by far the worst. Interesting that the press all seeing to be saying Sweden is now higher than UK. Sweden is just under half the number of deaths per million population compared to Belgium. Still not good, but much better than UK (and much better than Spain, France and Italy), despite the press. Sweden overtakes UK with highest coronavirus death rate per capita -did they get it wrong? | World | News | Express.co.uk WWW.EXPRESS.CO.UK SWEDEN has overtaken the UK, Italy and Belgium to record the highest coronavirus per capita death rate in the world.

The UK is currently the second worst hit country for Covid 19, and Sweden is well down the list. Anyone know who is worst hit? Ignoring micro states by the way as SAN Marino is the worst hit overall.

Oooohhhh really? Where?

Healthy scepticism I would say.

Sorry I missed your meaning. Here it is, same people same time, different angle and lens.

Yes I agree it is ridiculous, but the police are patrolling the beaches here in Wales - well the ones we could get to with a short drive anyway.

Well perhaps you can, as I don't know which pic you mean. But again it makes no difference to the point. The press are very good at putting a twist on things, and we all need to keep our wits about us, and not get sucked in to hysteria and half facts. I am sure some lack of social distancing was going on, and I do not condone this, but I do not trust the press to give a balanced picture.

I was not there Felix, so I will have to take your word for it, even though you also were not there. My point is still very valid anyway. The media love to create a story, and it is very easy to go the the end of a long beach and take a picture which makes it look as if hundreds of people are all close together. This picture below is of a queue for a shop and they are all 2 metres apart. Doesn't look like it does it? Do you trust the media?!

I have just been out driving around Newport to get a few bits for my elderly mum, and to be honest it looks like lockdown has ended. I saw lots of social distancing going on, but I think even here in Wales it looks like most people have given up on the "Stay at Home" message. Hardly surprising when garden centres, fishing venues, golf courses, KFC and Burger king and so on are all open. It is just a weird situation when we all know we are legally not allowed to drive around to places, yet most people clearly are. I think they need to give up on lockdown and simply ensure social distancing. Otherwise we risk having a load of rules that no-one respects or cares about, and they will lose all control then.

Oh dear that is embarrassing, I have corrected my beeches to beaches. I did wonder what Big J's post meant!

A very organised looking construction it has to be said. Like all these jobs good preparation makes such a difference. Thank you for sharing, and where can I buy that stuff you mention....ticketyboo....sounds like just what I need.