Carnog wins BHLWM Award 2013


Barbara and team first in Woodland Management Award

BHLWM TrophyFor their work at Barlings Barn, Pandy, Llanbrynmair, Powys, Barbara, Tyler and Billy have been awarded the British Horse Loggers Woodland Management Award for 2013. The award is The Prince of Wales Perpetual Trophy for Woodland Management (left), carved by woodcarver Chris Pye. It is 15" across in yew with a carved lime pair of horses pulling a forwarder in deep relief. It is embossed with silver and is a stunning and fitting trophy.

The bi-annual award by British Horse Loggers is for recent work which has included the use of horses to extract the timber. Judging is very stringent and evaluates the job as a whole, from planning to finish. The award highlights the quality of woodland care and woodland management that can be achieved by the use of horses.

The Barlings Barn woodland is privately owned, having been purchased by the neighbouring property owners in 2004 in order to secure the beauty of the site and to enhance the experience of people staying in their holiday accommodation. The woodland has subsequently proved to be a sustainable source of firewood for the log boiler that was installed by the owners in 2010; the boiler will require 50-70 tonnes of dry wood per annum. The woodland is an Ancient Woodland Site, planted with conifers in the late 1950s, and the owners’ aim is to preserve and enhance the native elements over time; with such an aim the owners were reluctant to fell and remove timber using heavy machinery, hence their contacting Barbara who has now worked on the site on two separate occasions, extracting timber to trackside for conversion into firewood.

In making the award, judges Geraint Richards, from the Duchy of Cornwall, and Graham Taylor, from Pryor & Rickett Silviculture, made the following citation:

  This has been a very difficult competition to judge, with very fine margins separating the four entries; in making our decisions we have been mindful of not just the quality of the work on site but also the supporting documentation, which is an important element of the Award. We were very impressed with the quality of Barbara’s written application, which contained all the details we would hope for (background to the site, justification for using horses, detailed description of work, thorough costings, BWW scheme, maps and photographs, risk assessments, training and insurance). The enlightened owners have developed an excellent working relationship with Barbara who herself is working the site in a way that is most cost effective for the owners. The costs per cubic metre of timber extracted are impressive and  - given all the other benefits associated with horse-logging on this site – more than justify the owners’ decision to use Barbara.

Thanks to the British Horse Loggers website for this information.

 

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