agg221

Hello Tim, It might help to clarify why you have some of the reactions above if you break things down a bit. Yes - wood can have a value. How much value depends on various factors, including what type it is, the size, quality and how much effort (hours) is involved in getting it to that condition. Of the trees you mention above, walnut and yew are the two which are most commercial. Cypress and Prunus are too vague to offer any useful comment - Prunus includes plums, cherries and various other things so it's not possible to be clear on what they might actually be. Size should become clearer once you have some dimensions and photographs but bear in mind that 'very big' to you in a particular setting may not be that big compared with what is considered commercial size. Quality covers things such as how long and straight, how many side branches and (particularly for walnut) how much dark coloured heartwood vs. how much pale coloured sapwood. Effort is influenced by factors such as location - can you drive right up to them and pick them up with a grab lorry, or is someone going to have to extract them through a terraced house? Can you actually fell them without hitting anything, as if they will have to be cut down in sections that pretty much wipes out any value unless they are absolutely huge (which those species are unlikely to be - I'm talking about giant redwood huge). Also relevant to both quality and effort are factors such as nails - if someone has nailed fence wire or a bird box to them then that can damage the chain on the saw, which reduces margin on the job. Nails, internal rot and the colour of the timber cannot be seen while the tree is still standing, so you have to make the assumption they will be bad. Another factor is transport costs, so sending in a lorry pick up a full load of timber costs about the same as picking up a single tree. That means the cost per tree can be multiplied by up to x10. From the above, you can see that there are a lot of variables. A lorry-load of clean, straight walnut trees by the roadside is worth something in your pocket whereas a load of cotoneasters in the back garden of a terraced house will cost a whole lot more to cut up than the wood would ever be worth, even ringed up as firewood. Another factor is that people whose job is tree work often are not the same people who run sawmills (although a few are). There is another market for single trunks to people who mill small amounts of timber, mainly for their own use and may not want a lorry-load (I am one such person and could potentially be interested in the walnut and the prunus - others may also be interested in those and the yew). They will pay less per trunk though. Bear in mind that the reason milled timber is expensive is the effort of milling it, the time spent seasoning it and the losses in yield from the round log to the finished article - it doesn't amount to much when you work it out. In your situation, I would put up pictures of the trees, with dimensions and an indication as to access. You are then likely to get useful comment as to whether any of them may have a value. I would then look to have the felling/grinding done as a job by quotation, including the removal of all material except anything in which there is clear interest. Based on good photographs and dimensions of the logs, you may then get takers for them. Do not expect much - think tens or low hundreds at absolute best, and you may decide it's not worth the hassle, but you may be lucky with quality and meeting someone's need. Alec

One thing I find amusing is that the picture above is actually a mock-up (I have walked around in it). This is because the real thing, which is about a hundred yards away, is highly radioactive. When I looked around it the insulation was off and I stood as close to the core as it is safe to do so. When it is fired up, it uses a huge amount of electricity. Didcot power station was originally supposed to power it but they realised that all the lights in middle-England would dim at once if they did, so instead it has its own motor/generator. This consists of a pit about 10m deep in which there is a flywheel made of steel laminates, about 20m across which a cross-section about 1mx0.5m from memory. This is spun up by the motor and then switched so that the motor becomes a generator, dumping all the energy nearly instantaneously. I haven't seen this done, but I have walked around under the flywheel. The whole pit is kept warm and smells of the warm oil which is used to stop the laminates from rusting. We have done quite a lot of work on this over the years (and for its successor ITER), including some involvement in the new components which allowed it to double its output. Alec

I'm not familiar with the system in Scotland, but in England that would be catastrophic. We would not actually be allowed to make the changes necessary to uprate the house and, like you, many of the energy efficiency measures we have made do not count. We have early glass in some of the windows, so would not be allowed to remove it. Our walls are 4" thick lath and plaster which we would not be allowed to remove. Cladding over it with a modern system would reduce breathability and it would rot, for which we would be held accountable. Installing heavy thermal curtains, underfloor heating and thermal plaster do not count because they are not in the assessor's checklist. We do not have solar panels because the artificially inflated costs are designed to become affordable once you factor in the grants, but we do not qualify for the grants because our property does not meet the necessary energy efficiency levels, which we can't do because of the above. Catch 22. If you make listed buildings or buildings in conservation areas legally unsaleable then the residents have to live there until they die, and then they are left to fall apart. It's worse with listed as technically the owner still has to pay to repair it. You might think things would be joined up in this regard but they really aren't. When I built our extension it had to comply with both building control and listed buildings. These were totally different functions and although the relevant officers sat in the same council building they didn't talk. They both put forward their stipulations and I was obliged to find a way to reconcile them. If new legislation makes that impossible it will fall on the homeowner to deal with that problem. The only way I can see that being resolved is if the regulations alienate enough voters simultaneously that it costs them an election. Alec

I also go for practical magpie. Styles in all things are defined over regions but the regions are large and the boundaries are always going to be hazy anyway. I sit literally on the Essex/Suffolk border and am a mile from Cambridgeshire. My house is painted Suffolk pink - anyone who thinks I should find some specific Essex colour whereas next door should stay pink because they are 'over the border' would completely miss the point. My short length of hedge was laid in a style which suited what I had to hand - I didn't have hazel for binders so used whatever I could cut out of the overgrown scrub in front of it before I grubbed it up - mostly plum suckers. It wasn't as pretty but it lasted as long as the stakes did so that will do fine. I will probably do the same from another bit of scrub when I lay it again in a few years time. Alec

There is a lot of money backing the SMR programme at the moment. This is definitely seen as part of the solution - also because it will create an exportable design which will go some way to addressing the balance of trade deficit which is rising post-Brexit. There is some hope for fusion. It is still a long way away in the scale of our lifetimes, but not in the context of longer-term stability. That's the case on a global basis - less likely to benefit the UK now unfortunately (the UK hosted JET and has played a major role in its successor ITER, but that ended with Brexit due to withdrawal from the Euratom treaty). UKAEA is having a lot of money pumped into it as a competitor to ITER, but that is the UK vs. the World and it isn't anywhere near the same scale. The UK does not have any reliable sources of renewable energy. Wind and solar are unpredictable at best so a storage solution would have to be accepted alongside the generation costs, which is not likely to leave them financially viable. The demand which would be placed on the electricity network if transport goes electric as planned would be unsustainable. There is also a current government exercise underway considering the future of heat. The question being asked is whether in future you will heat your home with electricity or with hydrogen through the gas distribution network. The decision is due to be made in 2025. If the answer is electricity then again, the question will be where is that additional power coming from? Insulation is a good solution in some cases but it leaves many people excluded. It's good because it reduces consumption, meaning there is less impact from increased price. Working from home I get a steady stream of cold calls offering to improve my insulation - 'thatched' and 'grade 2 listed' and they are suddenly not interested and hang up. It's no good coming up with a solution that upgrades most buildings and leaves some out, unless you are prepared to either subsidise energy costs for anyone in a building which cannot be upgraded, cover the costs of demolishing and rebuilding all such buildings (including loss of heritage in many listed buildings and conservation areas) or allow fuel poverty to start killing off pensioners again, as it used to before the introduction of the winter fuel allowance. The UK is set for a period of substantial inflation. This is the quickest and cheapest way to pay for COVID - much like the way your mortgage stops hurting so much once you are some years in because your salary has gone up and the debt hasn't, even if that is just an inflationary rise, the same is true for the COVID debt. The problem becomes if you allow energy costs to rise faster than inflation then they become unaffordable. Small and steady moves over the long term is the best way to implement change, taking a ten to twenty year view, but what government is going to do that when they are looking to be re-elected in no more than five, and then looking to move on personally to lucrative non-exec director roles? The technology is possible, and should be viable, but I fear that politics will delay or crash it - that is what is happening right now. Alec

It will almost certainly be fine with regard to the loss of bark. It hasn't lost that much and the tree is fairly small, so it will heal over completely in a year or two. Don't worry about putting anything over it as you are more likely to seal anything fungal in. It certainly hasn't taken enough off to worry about bridge grafting. I would go for a ring of wire mesh, leaving plenty of space inside around the whole trunk. My bigger concern is the number of uncovered roots and the fact that I can't see the graft line. If that has been buried then your tree is now rooting from above, meaning that it may well get rather larger than you originally thought it would. Alec

Big, old, high-torque/low revs saws don't seem to behave so well with lo-pro. They also don't cut that much faster as the chain speed is down and they don't make up for it with big chips. There is a saving in kerf, but unless you cut a fair amount at 2" or less it is minimal. The torque does also have a tendency to break chains if you are anything other than very careful. I would go for a roller or sprocket-nosed bar in preference to a hard nosed bar as it will increase available power and stop the chain stretching as much. I would stick to .404" for that powerhead. Alec

Before it got stolen I used to run an 076 with a 47" Duromatic (hard nosed) bar. With the low revs it didn't overheat, although I used to dribble a bit of oil on the end of it from time to time if I was working it really hard. That was running standard .404" ripping chain. Alec

Sadly I wasn't impressed either. I wanted to like it - there is so much rubbish on that it had the potential to be a welcome change, but it just wasn't. I like Repair Shop, but there the back story of the items being repaired adds something and the format allows for before and after. Here, there can't be a before and the back story seemed over-done. I also wasn't entirely sure that the recipients were all delighted to receive their gift, which reminded me of Changing Rooms but at least that was funny and a bit of paint would sort it, whereas this all felt too serious. I'll stick to Youtube videos instead - some much better stuff there. Alec

I spent a peaceful half-hour in the orchard today, pruning a few more trees. It's a very relaxing sort of job - quiet (nothing more than a Silky and a pair of secateurs) and almost meditative in its semi-repetitive forming of patterns. I took a few before and after photos - it was a bit dark for some of them to work (trees against a background of trees in the twilight is not very useful) but this pair show something I think. In the second picture, note how it is thinner and the branches have been bent into shape where necessary, mostly by wedging other bits of branch (mostly offcuts from somewhere else) in place to bring them down. Alec

Thanks for the compliments Mark, whether deserved or not! There is actually a good reason for asking for the collective wisdom of the good members of this forum. I tend to be very logical, and in my day job I sometimes have to negotiate with professional buyers who are trained to beat me down. I can go toe to toe with some of the hardest nosed buyers there are and not flinch, look them in the eye and systematically dismantle their arguments as fast as they make them, leaving them paying exactly what I wanted them to. I have an armory of tactics and have never gone below where I wanted to be, and usually get more (they don't actually walk out crying, but they aren't happy). I wrote and deliver the corporate training course on pricing. However, this is not good preparation for dealing with potentially distressed and not entirely rational old ladies. Someone who pruned old Mrs Miggins' tree and now wants payment, only to find she is getting rather forgetful and a bit irrational and keeps failing to pay up has probably had more experience of tactics which get them a good result than I have in this kind of situation. Alec

If you want homes found for them I am likely to be able to help. How many in total? There are a couple of groups in the area that I am in touch with. I work in Great Abington and my wife works in Melbourn so we are probably in the right area. Alec

Sycamore would be a good choice when starting if you can find it. Even grained and stable. It's hard enough to hold up and not crumble but soft enough to work easily. Alec

I'm not seeing the images I'm afraid. If it is a plum, do not cut it whilst dormant - severe risk of developing silverleaf. The best time of year is whilst in full growth, so May/June. Alec

Tung oil. Simple - no decision needed! Alec

Thanks All for the further thoughts. AHPP - thank you particularly for the form of the letter - it gives me a route forward as a next step. I don't really want to involve a solicitor. My concern with turning up in person is that it could go wrong - if she states it isn't at the house, or she doesn't have time to look for it right now and shuts the door on me, I am not only no further forward, it is actually a backward step, as she may take a twisted view of now having the moral high ground to justify refusing to act. It will also be my word against hers regarding threatening behaviour etc. (vulnerable widow line) so it feels like too much of a risk. Fortunately, it is very easy to uniquely identify for a non-specialist. Firstly, it is extremely rare (and not in an Ebay sense!), secondly it can be identified from photographs, thirdly, it is actually not the whole watch - he was a specialist repairer of one part, which is what he had. The rest is locked up in my safe. Unfortunately, the whole thing is virtually worthless without the part he had. For those who have asked, it's a wristwatch made in Coventry in 1926 by Rotherham & Sons. I collect mainly English-made watches. I don't have a photograph to hand, but is is very similar to this one: Rotherham & Sons Wristwatch WWW.VINTAGEWATCHSTRAPS.COM Rotherham & Sons Wristwatch except that mine has a gold case rather than silver, and is actually signed for Rotherhams rather than a retailer, which is even less common. Mine also has the superior Super Grade movement rather than the A grade. I have a copy of the 1926 catalogue which shows it priced at £26-5-0 (for comparison, the one in the picture linked above would have been £15-10-0). Adjusted for inflation that would be about £1720, so it wouldn't have been a bad investment. Alec

Its a couple of hours drive which is a bit far to chance whether she is in or not, but it might come to that. I am tending towards the solicitor route as it makes it hard to deny or ignore, and lodges a claim against the estate in the event that she does dispose of it. I have lost out before - I swapped about £500 worth of timber for the welding repairs to my Land Rover chassis. Someone I knew very well and completely trusted but he got pneumonia and died two months later. That one was not in anyone's control but I feel this one is different somehow. ALec

I won't be writing it off. Partly because it is several thousand pounds worth, partly because of the principle - mine was one of many and if she/the estate takes them that would be theft of something between £50k and £100k of other people's watches. I would like to talk to the administrator but she isn't answering the phone. That leaves me with the option of writing (which she could equally ignore), doorstepping her which doesn't seem like the right thing under the circumstances, or formalising it through a solicitor. The solicitor route, whilst potentially expensive, is worth it under the circumstances I think. Alec

Thanks - I don't know who the solicitors would be, but it set me searching down a line and I think I should be able to find out whether probate has been granted. If so, that should have the name of the solicitor on it (although it looks like it will cost me another £10 to find out). If not, I can enter a standing search which will immediately notify me once it goes through, so that should give me the necessary information in the end (although it turns out the relevant government website is down at the moment!) Cheers Alec

As I have mentioned before, I collect watches. Because of the age and scarcity of the types I collect, they often need work. I can do the basics but some of it is pretty specialist stuff, with only a few people in the country who are capable of doing it. One of the people I knew quite well was self-employed and did some very specialist repair/remanufacturing work. He had done various things for me over the years and I asked if he would take on a particular job which nobody else was prepared to try. He agreed to give it a go. Unfortunately he then became very ill, with a long recovery time, taking nearly two years. Since nobody else was prepared to take it on, there was no reason to get the watch back as he could pick up on it when he got better. He recovered but was just getting on to it when he fell ill again. He had some experimental treatment which was working, but unfortunately it put a lot of stress on other organs and he died suddenly and unexpectedly last July. I was in occasional contact and kept an eye on his website, so it was late September when I realised he had died. It having been a couple of months, I rang his mobile to see if it was still working and it was - his widow rang me back. I explained how sorry I was to hear the news and could she arrange to return the watch? She said she was asking people for a £10 note sent in an envelope to cover the return costs. I didn't feel this was quite right, as I felt the estate should be covering the costs of winding up the business such as returning customers' uncompleted projects, but I couldn't see a sensible alternative. Various things then took priority for me but I sent the £10 as requested, recorded delivery, and it was received and signed for in early December. Since then nothing. Having started ringing the number to check where things are there is no answer, or on the land line (both ring). So that's where I am. She is obviously still very upset and grieving, but on the other hand she has my very rare and valuable watch. She also has the £10 she requested for its return which she has not actioned. What I want as an outcome is the return of my watch so that I can look for someone else to do the necessary work (or even do it myself if I absolutely have to). What would be a reasonable course of action and timeframe do you reckon? Alec

No idea if it will be any good but starts 9pm today on Quest. Supposed to be about making high quality woowork. Alec

No, you won't have to treat them. It sounds like your climate goes from hot and dry to cold and snowy, rather than permanently damp like the UK. Even here they will last a good 30-50yrs on an ordinary pitch roof, so given that in your location they should last better, I would think you will only do it once in your lifetime. There are many good videos on Youtube showing shingle making but as a starter, this one is pretty useful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZA1J8RHltY I haven't made shingles, but have split a reasonable amount of lath for my ceilings, along with all the battens for the roof. It takes a long time, but I find it relaxing - a nice job for a few hours of an evening. Alec

I can answer that question, or at least one way of doing it, which is how I tiled my extension roof, which is also insulated over the rafters, then plywood, then membrane. If you remove the asphalt, you should be able to see where the plywood is fixed down to the rafters/trusses. Mark these points top and bottom of the roof. Then apply a breathable membrane horizontally in strips, end to end. This would have been a lot easier with two people, but I did it by tacking the strip to the plywood along its top edge, where the rafters were. The strips overlapped so any water would run off. Then fix battens running top to bottom over every rafter, sandwiching the membrane, ply and rafter. Oak or sweet chestnut battens, fixed with helical stainless nails like this: https://mammothroofing.co.uk/products/super-7-160mmthor-helical-pitched-roof-nails-box-of-100 which worked very well, but did need pilot holes in seasoned oak (no pilot hole needed if you are using softwood). My battens were not all straight but they could be pulled straight and held with the helix. It does put holes in the membrane but they are hidden under the batten so no leak path. Horizontal battens can then be fitted at the right spacing, nailing onto the vertical battens (which are called counter battens). Spacing can be rustic, using the curve of the battens, or uniform using a spacing block and bending them to shape. Bear in mind that if random you need to put the battens closer together to allow for the maximum gap, which means more shingles too. I was using outrageously expensive handmade tiles (to satisfy Listed Buildings) and that meant I wanted the fewest I could get away with, so pulled the battens straight. The shingles can then be fixed to the horizontal battens, either by hanging on pegs or using stainless annular ring shank nails (much easier). Pilot holes are needed. If you just try and nail onto the batten then it bounces too much, but sliding a block between it and the plywood stops that. So long as the shingles are close enough together to stop direct sun getting through the membrane holds up pretty much forever. It took me a while (I made all the batten too by cleaving sweet chestnut) but it came out nicely in the end, and it wasn't hard, just repetitive. Alec

I wondered whether the use of wooden shingles was previously common in your area? I tried googling it, but I'm not on a winner with that one (too many language challenges!) - I found them in Romania but that was about the best I could achieve. If so, they might meet your requirement of being in-keeping and thin. If the raw material is available (oak or sweet chestnut in suitable rounds) then it is practical to make your own, given time, as it's a very repetitive task, removing the need to find skilled craftsmen. No denying that a skilled craftsman will be faster, achieve a higher yield and they will look better, but it's possible to do an adequate job with very basic tools, some general idea of what you are doing and plenty of spare material to scrap! Alec

You mention that you are not in the UK. Whereabouts are you? I wondered what the equivalent local vernacular construction material on ancient buildings might be? Is there anything useful you can borrow from? Alec