Timber loading in summer 1915

The various lockdowns have allowed us to have a bit more time to do things that in the normal course of events, we were too busy to do! This was certainly the case for Exeter woodland owner Charles Eden. His ancestors were very good about taking photographs, and the family photo albums have not been sent to the tip!

As a result we can hop into a time machine and return to another age. The pictures date from the end of the 19th Century and beginning of the 20th century and are obviously in black and white, but technology has moved on and it’s now easy to add colour to them – this is called colourising.

So Charles dug out various photos, and via a colourisation website, obtained some remarkable images in full colour. The pictures below could carry the caption “Timber loading all summer” and were taken in 1915… probably in August that year.

“We used to have a house in the East Riding of Yorkshire, called Kilnwick Hall, between Beverley and Driffield, which was sold in the 1940s, and these photos were taken there”, says Charles.

“I think it’s amazing the oak had to be hauled by six horses – haven’t machines transformed things! Interesting to see how the industry has changed!”

The colourising process can be useful for forestry operations in other ways too. The third colourised photo shows part of the two hundred acre Cotley wood on Charles’ estate in Devon. This was taken when snow was on the ground at the end of 1907/beginning of 1908 and you can clearly spot an area that had been clear felled. It’s interesting that you can see the track through the wood as it shows up white. This area was replanted at some stage afterwards and is now pure oak – it’s grown rather slowly and won’t be ready to be clear felled again for some time!

Two 160 cubic metre firewood log drying kilns

One 16 cubic metre log drying kiln complete with 60kw biomass hot air heater

Offering a comprehensive range of professional log & woodchip drying kilns for the timber industry. Along with kilns for sawn timber, pallets & fencing producers

KILN Services has been designing and manufacturing timber-drying kilns from its base in Essex for over 45 years. The company provides drying and heat-treatment kilns for all sectors of the industry, including softwood and hardwood sawmills, pallet manufacturing, fence-post producers, biomass fuel producers, modified timber and research facilities in universities and training colleges. In recent years, the market for kilns to dry biomass fuel has increased considerably. This has been driven by consumer awareness of product moisture and government initiatives to improve air quality, such as the Woodsure Ready to Burn accreditation scheme. Manufacturers of Timber Drying Kilns for over 45 years

Please visit our website for more information www.kilnservices.co.uk t: 01621 785 935 e: kilnservices@btconnect.com Kiln Services Ltd, Essex, CMO 8TE