We endeavor to use locally grown, sustainable English Oak and English Ash wherever possible keeping delivery distances to a minimum, which is greener. We are using timber from ash from The Garnons Estate, near Hereford, and oak from part of the Duchy Of Cornwall Estate, near Hereford, owned by The Prince Of Wales (all within 15 miles of the workshop).

Tree trunks are carefully selected, planked, then air and kiln dried on the premises, thus maintaining quality control throughout the whole process; from the growing tree, to your finished four poster bed.

An experienced local mill operator (Ian Carmichael, Teme Timber) and mobile sawmill (a Wood-Mizer), turn the tree trunks into planks. Each one is carefully sawn to maximise the quality and beauty of the wood, as decades of growth are revealed with each pass of the saw.

Wood-Mizer sawmills are renowned for minimal waste of valuable timber. The slab wood from the outside of the tree, unsuitable for furniture making anyway, is sold locally as firewood after being left to air dry for a couple of years. People are returning to using wood as a heat source through winter months as oil is not only getting more expensive but also an unpopular non-renewable energy source.

Boards are placed in a stack, with sticks between them to allow air to circulate through the boards and dry them out slowly. This is done until they are as dry as the air flowing through them. Air drying is as green as wood drying can be, and in Britain will bring the moisture content down to about 15-18%.

This will not dry the wood sufficiently for use in furniture placed in your house, especially if it is in a dry centrally heated home. The use of a simple dehumidifying kiln will take the moisture content of the timber down to a satisfactory level, before it is used to make your furniture. If properly air dried, kiln drying will only take two weeks, keeping electricity usage to a minimum.

Timber is placed into a kiln, which is an extremely well insulated box, where heat can be introduced to help the excess moisture to come to the surface of the board. Moisture can then be extracted from the air within the kiln, using a refrigeration unit and timer.

Although these low energy kilns do run on electricity, once up to temperature, they do not need additional heat, as the heat from the refrigeration unit keeps the kiln at optimum temperature. We have used 4" polystyrene insulation that was heading for a landfill site to make these kilns, and the suppliers of the kiln kits (Arrowsmith's) tell us that the boxes are the most efficient built so far.

Once the wood has reached the desired moisture content, about 12%, it can be cooled down slowly, to avoid putting stresses in the planks.

Most of wood used is English oak, but we also dry smaller quantities of ash, sycamore, Douglas Fir, yew and walnut. Producing our own dried timber, allows us to keep a close eye on quality control throughout the whole process. Our craftsmen can select wood for your furniture from a comprehensive stock of timber built up over the years from local sources. Furniture made from West African mahogany, American cherry etc., also comes from sustainable forests.

We have worked with The Marches Woodland Initiative (MWI) to locally source timber without losing product quality. The MWI encouraged (with funding) the local reclamation and regeneration of many local woodlands and their management.