Woodsmen

Coppicing
Skilled craftsmen made many objects from wood that had been coppiced. This ancient practice involves cutting trees and shrubs to ground level and regularly harvesting the shoots which regrow from dormant buds in the stumps and roots. Traditionally, coppice was cut on a regular cycle depending on the species and the product required. Hazel (Corylus avellana), for example, was typically coppiced every 7-10 years to produce pea-sticks, thatching spars, hurdles and fuel. Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) was usually cut at 15 years for fencing, whilst oak (Quercus robur) was left from 25-35 years for firewood and charcoal production. A limited number of trees, known as standards, were often retained for 80-100 years to produce larger timber. Among the most commonly coppiced of the British native broad-leaved trees and shrubs are alder (Alnus glutinosa), beech (Fagus sylvatica), willow (Salix spp.), wych elm (Ulmus glabra), lime (Tilia spp.) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior).

The life of a woodsman
Although the life of a woodsman is romanticised today, the reality was very different. In the winter months, skilled woodsmen worked tirelessly cutting the coppice to produce sufficient material to last the whole year. They often worked away from home for long periods, living in crudely constructed huts or 'hovels' near their workplace. Employed by large estates who managed their own woodlands, they began learning their trade at the early ages of nine or ten and served long apprenticeships. The more skilled craftsmen were self employed, selling their products through local markets or direct to the customer. They laboured long hours for little financial reward and, only occasionally working in teams, led a solitary existence.

Woodland tools
Local blacksmiths designed most tools specially to meet demand and the woodsman's specifications. This resulted in many regional variations which differed in size, weight and pattern. Many tools had a unique role, linked to specific skills - for example, the twybil, a mortising knife, used in the preparation of gate hurdles and the stock knife used to fashion tent pegs.Most craftsmen, however, only owned a small collection of essential tools which included an axe, side axe, froe and beetle maul, billhook and draw-knife or draw-shave. These basic tools, used in conjunction with a number of devices constructed in the woodlands for gripping, supporting and levering wood, enabled the craftsman to carry out most tasks.

Craftsmen and their products
Before the introduction of fossil fuels, plastics and imported alternatives, the products made by skilled craftsmen from carefully managed woodlands played an essential role in the life of many communities.

Besom Brooms
Although besom brooms were made throughout the country, some of the best were produced by the broomsquires of the Sussex and Surrey heaths. Traditionally cut during the winter months, the heather or birch twigs forming the broomhead were bound together with clefts of ash, oak, hazel or bramble. The handle or 'tail', formed from an ash, lime or hazel pole smoothed with a curved draw-shave, was driven into the head and secured with a peg. Besom brooms are still produced commercially for garden and domestic use.

Chairs
The original chair bodgers were highly skilled wood-turners, who produced chair legs and spindles on simple pole lathes for the chair-making industries of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. They worked in crudely constructed brushwood huts within the Chiltern beech woods, but sadly, with the introduction of mechanisation, the traditional chair-making industry steadily declined until the 1950s when the last of the Chiltern bodgers retired. However, recently a new generation of bodgers has staged a revival, making complete chairs from a variety of woods.

Charcoal
Charcoal was traditionally produced during the summer months in coppiced woodlands. The method of charcoal burning, which involves heating wood without enough air for complete combustion, required careful attention from the woodsmen. So, during the summer burning season, they lived 'on site' in basic makeshift huts within the woodlands. Until recently, charcoal was produced in earth-covered mounds, but these have been replaced by portable metal kilns which are less labour-intensive.

Gate Hurdles
The gate hurdle, similar in appearance to a small field-gate, was a common form of portable fencing primarily used in sheep farming. Constructed in poles of cleft oak, ash, willow or chestnut, the crossbars were attached to the uprights using mortise joints cut using the hammer-shaped twybil. Although the same basic design was followed by all craftsmen, there were regional variations including the chestnut hurdles of Kent noted for their strength and durability.

Hazel Hurdles
The hazel hurdle-makers, who worked within the coppice woodlands, were arguably the most skilled of all craftsmen. In order to produce a strong and durable fencing panel from young hazel shoots, they mastered a number of skills including cutting, trimming, riving and weaving. The woven hurdles, designed to be both light and portable, were traditionally used for sheep-folding but more recently have become a popular form of garden screening. Dating back as far as the Neolithic period over 5,000 years ago, when woven hurdles and bundles of brushwood formed primitive trackways, hurdle-making is one of the oldest woodland crafts.

Hay Rakes
Hay rakes were produced by craftsmen throughout the country to meet the annual demand of the farmer. Most rakes were constructed from ash wood which is naturally strong, light and readily absorbs sudden strains and stresses. Traditional hand-made rakes are still widely used by many garden contractors, sports clubs and local authorities.

Sussex Trugs
Hurstmonceux in East Sussex was the birth-place of trug-making, which is now practiced throughout the country. The word trug may be derived from the Anglo-Saxon name for a boat (troog). The vessel-shaped trug, made with a steamed ash or chestnut frame and cleft willow, is strong and durable but light to carry and is commonly used in homes and gardens.

Tent Pegs
Many different craftsmen, including the Chiltern bodgers, made tent pegs. The pegs, cleft from ash or beech, were shaped with a draw knife or a device resembling a guillotine called a stock knife. A skilled peg-maker could fashion a peg with just eighteen cuts of the stock knife. During the last war, over fifty million tent pegs were produced to secure the tents that billeted the allied troops. Their strength and ability to grip the ground give them advantages over metal pegs that guarantees their place in the modern market.

Willow Baskets
There is a long tradition of basket-weaving in Britain, which has played an important role in the economic success of many communities. However, the craft of basketry was largely dependent on the willow-growing industries centred around the wetlands of the Somerset levels and the fertile soils of the Severn and Thames valleys. Although recently the craft has declined on a commercial basis, it is still practiced by many craftspeople who follow traditional patterns which have remained unchanged for centuries.