Storm Arwen was devastating in terms of windblown trees in our woodland but it also created opportunities. The logs that were large enough have been gathered at the east end of our woods and funding found through generous donations from the Hygeia Foundation and a supportive community member to convert these to timber that will be used in the building of the new sanctuary.
The FHT has taken on enabling this process by using its tools and expertise to line up the use of a local harvester and portable mill to move and convert the wood and a host of community volunteers to process the resulting timber, which involves moving, brushing, stickering and covering the planks so that they can successfully season before being used later in the year.
Although it will be mid-March before there is a definitive design for the building, the opportunity to use round timber as beautiful structural elements has not been missed – over 30 posts, beams and rafters have been identified and are in the process of being debarked, meticulously stripped and treated with a tree derived tar and oil mix before being left to season under cover. In this way community members can take an active part in helping the building of this important community structure – they have the opportunity to put a bit of themselves into the very fabric of the building.
It feels a very wholesome and organic process using material literally grown in our backyard to help rebuild the sanctuary and also a way of bringing people back together after the impact of covid and other devastating events over the last couple of years. The FHT is stepping up in a very meaningful way as one of the community organisations helping to make this a building a structure built by the community for the use of the whole community.
Jonathan Caddy
FHT Chair
March 2022
FHT and Timber for the New Sanctuary
Storm Arwen was devastating in terms of windblown trees in our woodland but it also created opportunities. The logs that were large enough have been gathered at the east end of our woods and funding found through generous donations from the Hygeia Foundation and a supportive community member to convert these to timber that will be used in the building of the new sanctuary.
The FHT has taken on enabling this process by using its tools and expertise to line up the use of a local harvester and portable mill to move and convert the wood and a host of community volunteers to process the resulting timber, which involves moving, brushing, stickering and covering the planks so that they can successfully season before being used later in the year.
Although it will be mid-March before there is a definitive design for the building, the opportunity to use round timber as beautiful structural elements has not been missed – over 30 posts, beams and rafters have been identified and are in the process of being debarked, meticulously stripped and treated with a tree derived tar and oil mix before being left to season under cover. In this way community members can take an active part in helping the building of this important community structure – they have the opportunity to put a bit of themselves into the very fabric of the building.
It feels a very wholesome and organic process using material literally grown in our backyard to help rebuild the sanctuary and also a way of bringing people back together after the impact of covid and other devastating events over the last couple of years. The FHT is stepping up in a very meaningful way as one of the community organisations helping to make this a building a structure built by the community for the use of the whole community.
Jonathan Caddy
FHT Chair
March 2022