Have billhook, will travel

[lingeringstin...]

Just wondering if anybody has had any experiences with coppicing courses. The sort of thing where they teach you how to do woodland shit on purpose. Been interested for years and would like to follow this up. The problem is whether there's any viable work to be obtained at the end of it, or is this all just Olde Shite that nobody cares about any more and it's now mainly just a weekend away for the caravan crowd?



Me: “I want to go live in my tent in the outdoors and hack at things with a billhook.”

Mr Milquetoast: “The outdoors... yes I’ve heard of it. Dreadful place. I’ve heard the wifi can be a bit dodgy.”

Mrs Weaktea: “The outdoors? Isn’t that where we park the Range Rover when we go to Morrisons? Dear God, why would anybody want to sleep there? it’s full of seagulls!”

Mr Milquetoast: “He didn’t mean it LITERALLY, dear, he was simply speculating about these ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLES people get interested in during their midlife crisis. You know, like monks and that sort of thing. People who run away from responsibility and have to hide in a commune somewhere. That sort of thing.”

Mrs Weaktea: “Oh, for a moment there I thought he was serious!”

Me: “Um, I am serious. I want to be somewhere with a campfire.”

Mr Milquetoast: “Campfire? Yes, I know what you mean. It’s where Pagans set fire to twigs and char bits of raw meat for food. I think there’s a law against that sort of thing, isn’t there?”

Mrs Weaktea: “I believe there’s still some places in Scotland where people live like that.”

Mr Milquetoast: “Scotland?! Hahahahahaha! Oh my dear, you ARE the witty one. Nobody would want to go THERE.”

Me: “I quite like the place...”

Blank stares.

Mr Milquetoast: “Well, I suppose SOME people might go in for that sort of thing...”

Mrs Weaktea: “Jocks! Hahahahaha- poor slovenly fools. I thought they all went extinct anyway.”

Mr Milquetoast: “Not at all, there’s literally hundreds of the beggars up there! I’ve seen Sir David Attenborough do a documentary about it. They’re almost human at times."

Mrs Weaktea: “Savages. Anybody that would go to a Morrisons car park to sleep in a tent and hack up seagulls to eat is insane.”

Me: “Yes, well, I’ll be off then. Nice meeting you both.”

[Nobby the Bastard]

Any tree surgeon can coppice. Most people who can coppice can't make a tree safe or drop a tree that is dangerous safely.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Sprint ST 1050

[stinkwheel]

https://naturalcharcoal.co.uk/about/
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[lingeringstin...]

[quote="stinkwheel"]https://naturalcharcoal.co.uk/about/[/quote]


BINGO!

"...where we live off-grid."

[doggone]

You would need a modest sized chainsaw (or an axe) not a billhook which is really only for thinner stuff up to about width of your arm.
Areas that have historically been coppiced have generally not been touched for at least 50 years so far more bigger material than is easy to deal with safely, unless you have some experience tree felling.

[stinkwheel]

I'll add, the charcoal those guys make is really good stuff too. I've cast bronze using it.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.