BBC Countryfile

We were delighted to welcome presenter Charlotte Smith and the BBC Countryfile team to our wood and workshop recently.

The programme was aired on Sunday 6th April at 5.15 PM and is now available on BBC i-player BBC One Countryfile Cairngorms Capercaillie episode. We are in the last 20 minutes of the show.

We started in our wood talking to forester and co-owner Rick Worrell about Ash Dieback Disease. Although this area naturally has a lot of ash, our woodland was mostly planted with oak for coppicing, so the ash is all young, small and self-seeded and most is infected. We felled and milled small trees however there are many mature ash trees in Perthshire, and we are often offered this wood from estate managers, tree-surgeons and saw-millers working with native trees. Infected mature trees may be felled for safety and we are delighted to give this timber new life as treasured pieces of furniture.

Ash is particularly pliable when saturated with steam and the process of steambending is thousands of years old however Angus has found ways to innovate and enjoys finding new ways to bring steam-bent components into fine furniture making. In the past, the bodgers turning and steambending wood for chair making, were completely separate to the cabinetmakers using traditional joints and woodwork to create fine furniture. In our workshop we combine techniques from both traditions with contemporary design and the latest cutting technologies. The Y Desk was nominated for the Wood Awards and our Prism Chair with hand-twisted seat won Best Sustainable Product at Decorex International.

In the foreground of the image below you can see Unstable Stool and Dalerb Garden Chairs and in the background Prism Shelving and they all have steam-bent elements.

Read more in Sustainable Timber and Ash Rise.