This project was first shared in Wood Culture: The Journal of Woodland Heritage, 2025. Wood Culture: the Journal of Woodland Heritage is published annually as a benefit of membership. You can support Woodland Heritage by becoming a member.
The people involved in growing trees and using timber can be shy, quiet and modest. Sometimes preferring to spend time with trees, in nature and in workshops.
As a result, the work and skills of brilliant people who are a vital part of the UK's wood culture can be underrepresented and are not often well recognised.
A Productive Year has helped ensure some of these people and places don’t go un-noticed while the UK continues to import masses of timber and use too many disposable, unrepairable products.
Woodland Heritage has travelled to photograph and film some of our finest makers and woodland workers. Some names will be familiar, others less so. All are masters of their craft. The photographs were taken by Ellie Walpole. The project was funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation. We would like to thank Ellie, the Foundation and all the individuals who gave their time to be photographed.
It is a remarkable collection of images and a survey of the work going on, often unseen, in our woods and workshops. The first set of images appeared in the most recent edition of Wood Culture: The Journal of Woodland Heritage and many more will appear throughout 2026.
Our deepest thanks…
…to those people and places involved in the project and to the project’s generous funder, Garfield Weston Foundation.