Keeping the home fires burning

This winter we have delivered more log loads than ever before, many to our regular customers, but we also have a lot of new customers. We hope you were happy with your firewood and will back to us again in the future.

It has been a difficult winter for everyone. For those of us that work in the countryside, the wet and windy weather has made working conditions hard at best, and sometimes absolutely impossible. We were fortunate in that our land is high and on a slope, so we just suffered from mud and wind and had no flooding. There were days when we couldn't work though, as working in a wood in a gale or worse is dangerous, so we just had to stop. Felling becomes impossible with even a reaonably high wind, especially if it is gusty.

Hambledon, Finchdean and Dean Lane End were flooded near us. We had to deliver one load of firewood to a house where the bottom of the drive was under water, but luckily the house was higher. We have also been delivering log sacks to the Peoples Market in Hambledon all through the floods. At first, we were allowed to come into the top of the village as long as we drove very slowly, then access was only by the Denmead end and only for certain vehicles. In the end we found it easier to deliver down Speltham Hill. It meant we didn't have the problem of turning between the sandbags, and there was only one line of sandbags to carry the log sacks over too.

I am glad to say that the water has gone down and Hambledon at least is now water free. The access is open again, but there is a lot of clearing up and road works to do before the people of Hambledon have got back to normal. We were glad that we were able to play our very small part in helping while so many volunteers in the village did so much.

We don't know whether winter is over yet, but we are still delivering log loads for use this season. Please think about your firewood requirements for next winter over the next few months. If you order during the summer it helps us to spread the load, you get a chance to season your wood that bit better, and you know you have something to keep you warm next winter. It spreads your heating costs too.

The next thing is charcoal. We hope to be able to load and fire at least one kiln this week so we have some to sell at Winchester Farmers Market at the end of the month.