When felling takes place the best of the oak is sold to a Suffolk furniture maker based in Ipswich who produces reproduction oak furniture. Here the wood is made into period pieces which are then 'distressed' and 'antiqued'. The rest of the oak goes to the sawmill at Ashdon where it is cut into fencing and construction materials, such as beams for barn restorations. In fact all the timber for the restoration of Great Thurlow Barn came from Trundley and Wadgell's woods. The ash is also used for furniture-making, with the second grade timber being used for 'carcassing', which is the construction of frames of, for example, 3-piece suites.

What is left ­ the branchwood or 'cordwood' ­ is used for the firewood operation. This has increased dramatically in the last few years, fortunately just as the demand for timber in the mining industry has more-or-less disappeared. The contractors do the felling for this and they are paid by the cord, which is a cubic measurement of 8´ by 4´ by 4´, with a trailer load being 2 cords once extracted. We use all the hardwood thinnings and small timber for this, except for poplar, willow and horse chestnut which tend to spit and spark and are poor burners.

The good timber is sold by the Hoppus cubic foot, which is a rather archaic measurement (like rods, poles and perches) derived from a booklet called a Decimal Hoppus Table which was invented by an Edward Hoppus in the 18th century. You get used to this and I can judge a Hoppus cubic foot pretty accurately by eye, though metric measurements are another matter!

We also have conifers on the Estate which were planted mostly in the 50s and 60s as a nurse to the hardwoods, to shelter them and help them grow straight. They are being thinned out to favour the broad-leaves. We tend now to use an understorey of hazel and elm to nurse the oaks up and then cut this back every 6 or 7 years. We use no chemicals for control and this policy has immense conservation benefits. The technique was only made possible by the invention in the early 80s of 'tree shelters' ­ the plastic tubes which were originally named 'Tulley Tubes' after their inventor.