£15,000 later we now have a forestry forwarder.
Designed to access difficult spaces and used widely within the forestry industry on the continent.

This machine was nestled in a disused train station surrounded in trees.

Now let’s talk about the beechings report - ...accessing markets is the difference between a dream and reality but historically quite a lot of the logistical infrastructure was removed in 1963. It made our production ability reliant on our road infrastructure and it also locked pockets of land out of market therefore now no longer in management.

Trees need management in order to thrive and timber producers need markets in order to plant more trees.

The removal of this lifeline propelled centralised systems.

I could write a thesis about this. If you want to read more on my findings the visit the national sawmills website.

Otherwise just go ahead and enjoy a complete novice learn how to operate a 30 year old piece of machinery with the interest of combining it with a new sawmill.

@nationalsawmillsuk @petersonsawmills

#forestryforwarder #valmet860 #valmet #forestry #forestryequipment

Most people see a pile of logs.

I see the building blocks of what I’d like to create.

Today is simply moving timber into my milling shed ahead of Saturdays pop up sawmill demo. It raises a question question…

When did we stop expecting farms to produce timber aswell ...as food?

Timber repairs barns, builds gates and fenced fields with the added benefit of heating homes. Today many of us buy those same things back without questioning where they came from.

I’m not suggesting every farm should become a sawmill (although that would be quite cool.)

I do think more of us should understand the value of the resource we’re already managing.

That’s exactly what Saturday is about - not just demonstrating a machine, but understanding what’s possible.

If you’re nearby and curious, come and see for yourself.

#smallholdinguk #estatemanager #woodlandtrust #silviculture #farmhack

@nationalsawmillsuk

Local timber is no longer an afterthought.

One farmer.
One chimney sweeper.

Now encouraging the UK to produce timber for their communities.

Join us on for a pop up demo day in Devon.

@welsh_thomas__ @nationalsawmillsuk @petersonsawmills

#timber ...#forestry #uktimber #ukforestry #local

To promote your message regarding wood sovereignty requires 1 arse and the camera in your back pocket.

Enjoy your weekend 😁

#wood #timber #forestry #ukforestry

Remember that mental thing we did in London?

Hop over to @nationalsawmillsuk to read the article.

Enjoy your weekend folks.

#forestryuk #forestry #uk

5 Peterson sawmills destined for homes in the UK.

90’s kids grew up playing Tetris. This is gonna be easy 😂😂

#sawmills #petersonsawmills #forestry
@welsh_thomas__
@nationalsawmillsuk

Along with fixing your @petersonsawmills , Jones offers free Zumba lesson with every visit.

Jones is expecting unsually high demands for Zumba.
For bookings please contact us here www.nationalsawmills.co.uk 😂

@welsh_thomas__
@nationalsawmillsuk

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