A morning well spent. Recent gales brought down the top half of a beech tree, not a high tree, but a hedge growth that had been uncut for more than thirty years. It had developed a weak spot midway up its trunk where the damage had let the weather into its growth. The gale was the trigger and it crashed down across a gateway. We didn’t hear it fall, but it is good fortune that no person or livestock was at the gate. So a couple of hours with a pole saw and chain saw, first taking off any growth not bearing pressure on the ground or the adjacent hedge bank, then tackling the load bearing timbers until the trunk was safely landed.

The wood was cut to size, picked up using the quad and trailer and carted to the wood store. In two or three years it will be sawn for logs for winter burning.

A good morning’s work, only it is a tad ironic that if the gale had not blown, the tree would not have fallen and the task would not have been needed. Still there is satisfaction over a coffee by the stove later for a job well done.