Without any planning permission, with no income generation and a month since I last looked at any property, I began the dramatic process of preparing the planks for the oak framed building in the wood.
Jim Dye bought his bansaw to the hard standing. Led by Paul, the connector and arranger – Jim Dye had cut for Angie – we all met to discuss strategy, Jim, Graham and Paul. A man of about 45, matured in wood, he spoke carefully. ‘It was my fathers business, begun in the 1950s so like him I began in timber, cutting firewood since the age of 16. I left and went for a while into diggers and building, but I came back. The bansaw work is the most sustaining – better to cut wood for use rather than burn.’
With the tap measure from his back pocket he measured the square of the round cut oak.
‘You can get 12 4×4 out of here, so if you need 150 in total, you’d need 14 of these’. His maths was sharp and disconcerting – we had 12 and also needed planks.
Joining us for the day was gentle Jim, who i knew from Waklyns and Angela’s wood. Turk who Barry had found at the bar of the Cratfield Poacher was strong and useful. Graham with his fit for purpose car, drove the cut pieces down to the cabin area where Jim and I staked with hazel sticks between.
Oak won’t take harm in the rain, said Jim, but you will need to protect it from the sun.
Pheasent soup cooked on the camper stove.
Graham: Rosie was just reading that one of the best antidotes to Alzihmers was being active outside – here we are.
Until his leg took at turn and he sat down, colour draining from face.
For two days he cut the oaks to a cutting list prepared and overseen by Graham and Paul, helped by Turk.
Arthur and Stephen came and put in the posts for the gate. The day before christmas, the new wood gate hung. On my way to Essex, I nailed a notice to the gate: Private Woodland 07920055888
Graham made remarkable recovery – was it helped by a healer?
Jim Dye and Turk
The Awkward on the bansaw
Poison Pie
I wrote this up in my green note book in the Star. A man came to the bar chatting to Virginia.
‘We’ve just moved here’, he explained. ‘To Holton, you know, the caravan and apple tree site. We’ve got a house and 6 acres.’
He looked a young strong, confident man, from Braintree I’d heard. He’d got my dream location.
Kaliwood 