The @guardian has now written about our work twice.

What interests me isn’t necessarily the coverage itself but the difference of framing.

One article focused on the romance of timber. The other began to expand on the difficult and broader topics.

How small scale ...conversion can contribute to domestic supply chains.

That severely matters.

Britain celebrates ‘rescued trees’ and beautiful end products but we rarely ask why so much viable material struggles to find local processing routes in the first place.

The uncomfortable truth domestic production isn’t built on sentiment alone.

It’s about infrastructure.
Access.
Markets.
Communities retaining and being part of the social and economical value.

If timber only becomes culturally important once it’s ‘saved’ we never address the structural reasons it’s overlooked, chipped, burned or discarded to begin with.

If your answer is ‘we lack trees.’ The evidence strongly suggests we lack the connection between production and conversion. If the people in the industry aren’t promoting it, someone else will control the narrative.

My findings on why we are in this difficult situation are published here - https://nationalsawmills.co.uk/news/

Previous guardian article - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/01/community-turns-ancient-oak-into-single-tree-table-in-devon-woodland

Recent guardian article - https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/may/28/its-like-dunkirk-for-the-construction-industry-the-small-team-rescuing-londons-precious-building-materials

@guardian
@petersonsawmills
@nationalsawmillsuk
@aliceefisher
@_zetteler_
@tippingpointeast
@yesmakeldn
@resolvecollective
@stephennormanyoung
@welsh_thomas__

We talk endlessly about housing shortages, sustainability and rural decline. Yet Britain grows timber, imports over 80% of what it uses and it still struggles with affordable housing.

Society couldn’t afford to build a homeless man housing whilst he was alive. When he dies he will ...receive a wooden coffin.

This isn’t just a quote. It’s a reflection of how disconnected we have become from the materials around us. I read that a total of 5% of the landmass is actually built on in the UK.

Trees are here.
Land is here.
Communities are here.

Between the space from the woodland to finished article… the value has been lost.

Maybe the real question isn’t whether Britain lacks resources. Maybe it’s whether we’ve lost the systems, infrastructure and local industry that once turned those resources into opportunities and connected us together?

We are a service industry nation.
With a huge GDP.

It’s not impossible for us to generate capital but the more we privatise and encourage globalisation that value isn’t going into our domestic economy.

Now we have influential forestry bodies stirring, promoting messages like ‘timber security is national security.’

This is a clear and direct message.
However, unless we dismantle the foreign companies that own our centralised processing ability the value will never be retained.

#timber #forestry #ukforestry #britain #housing

To date we have done a total of 10 demonstrations for @petersonsawmills and the response we received from @yesmakeldn was astounding.

The UK is a top 3 in global imports for timber.

By meeting architects, furniture makers, circular economy collectives the message from the British... forestry industry is clear - promote and use your domestic supply. We’re here to contribute.

@nationalsawmillsuk

#forestryuk #timber #circulareconomy #london #nationalsawmills

This is worth your time.

London is one of the biggest consumers of timber in the UK yet almost none of it is being processed here.

We import over 80% of the timber we build with while we neglect our own domestic British supply.

We’re doing something different.
...
We’re bringing a mobile sawmill demonstration into London showing how timber can be processed closer to its final home using British grown timber.

📍Live demonstration
Real timber
Real conversion
No theory

If you’re interested in :
- Forestry & timber supply chains
- Sustainable construction
- Material sourcing
- Decentralised production
- Or just want to see how a tree becomes usable

This is worth your time.

Click the link on the reel to join us 🫡

#londonevents #londonconstruction #londonarchitecture #centrallondon #whatsonlondon

Message from the founders of @nationalsawmillsuk

This is a strange position to be in.
We didn’t get here because we’re good at selling machines.
Truthfully, we’re not salesmen.

We enjoy milling timber, up and down the country in all conditions. The opportunity ...with @petersonsawmills came off the back of that. Not strategy decks. Not clever marketing.

You could call it ‘old fashioned business.’

Pick up the phone. Do what you’re say you’re going to do. Don’t disappear. We’re aware the history with Peterson in the UK has been… complicated.

There’s baggage there. Because of that, some of you think we’re just another flash in the pan.

We’re not going to try and talk our way around that. We’ll just get on with it.

Earning our stripes with you comes down to one thing - being the backup when you actually need it. When it’s pissing sideways, your fingers don’t work and there’s something wrong.

You ring.
We answer.
We sort it.
That’s it.

We’re not here to sell you something and disappear. We’re here because we use these machines ourselves and we know what it’s like when you’ve got no support behind you.

That’s why we created @nationalsawmillsuk

A working relationship across 3 nations.

We look forward to working with you.

@welsh_thomas__

#sawmilllife #nationalsawmills #forestryuk #forestrysupport

I wonder how much trouble I’ll get for doing this 😁?

@petersonsawmills @welsh_thomas__ @the_ginger_wood_worker

#timber #productlaunch #machines #wood #timber

23rd of May. Would you like to join us?

We’re going to tackle this sequoia stick together.
We’re going to work out how we give it a second life.

@treesurgery_and_sawmill_ltd
@land_lass
@jonotaylor84
@conservation_with_casey
@verymadmango
...@welsh_thomas__
@eli_baxter_woodwork
@the_ginger_wood_worker
@ne._donald
@solar_punk_stockman
@building_cassels
@forestryjournal
@logburnerslounge
@petersonsawmills

In the woods, nearly destroying my phone…

Feeling proud. Someone purchased a Peterson WPF and also requested we supplied them with saw logs.

I might be the agent now tapping on a computer but this is where it all began.

Dirt underneath our nails, in the woods, having ...fun.

#handcutter #timber #forestry #ukforestry #petersonsawmills

@petersonsawmills

Draxx power station currently earns 2million a day in government subsidies. Does that sound right to you?

Meanwhile small scale forestry and localised timber conversion is being muscled out due to the lack of ‘market.’

#timber #draxx #net0 #timberrevolution #uk