When Christian Gaze and I started Gaze Burvill 31 years ago, we had a vision of creating a beautiful collection of outdoor furniture using entirely oak grown in the UK. I was inspired by my one-year course at John Makepeace’s Hooke Park in Dorset where I had learnt about the necessity of adding value to British-grown woods to feed a virtuous cycle of growing and improving our woodlands.
Today Woodland Heritage announces a £238,442 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to create ‘Woodland Heritage Skills’; two years of educational workshops, digital educational assets and collaboration with its members and partners to deliver the charity’s new Open Woods & Workshops initiative.
Nick Wright describes his work at the Snowdon School of Furniture which started as a one-week summer school, the brainchild of David Snowdon and Carmel Allen, Linley’s then creative director, to celebrate 30 years of Linley Furniture and give something back to support student makers.
Hailing from Utah in the US, Justin Davies, most widely known as JustinTheTrees, has brought wood culture to hundreds of millions by sharing his adventures with trees and timber. John Orchard speaks with Justin about the concept of species loneliness, the taste of sassafras ice cream and the intense optimism found in bringing people closer to nature.
Former Sunday Times political editor David Cracknell has joined the board of trustees of Woodland Heritage as vice-chair to help the charity with its PR, communications and a new £250k fundraising drive.
Woodland Heritage has grown steadily over the last 28 years since its inception by Peter Goodwin and Lewis Scott. A combination of new opportunities and rising aspirations means the charity is on the cusp of a step change in its mission to demonstrate the value of British woods.
Woodland Heritage is a longstanding supporter of Bangor University, providing financial assistance and advice to many forestry students, alumni and staff, as well as over £800,000 of funding for a string of important research projects focused on Acute Oak Decline and based at the university.