With all the gales we've had of late, it was only a matter of time before something came down nearby. I had my hopes pinned on a lovely burr elm, but I'll settle for an ash, if it's free.

Now that the Christmas rush is over, I'll be rough turning all the timber which has mounted up over the last few months - a rather daunting task! I was hoping to get some turned recently, but have been far too busy with orders. As fresh wood comes in, the pile just gets bigger - maybe I need an apprentice.

Firstly, I would like to apologise for the string of blog posts I've written, dedicated to my pursuit of yew - I promise I'll be writing about a different timber next time! However, after mentioning the wood I found at Brackenburgh recently, I thought I'd post some photos, now that it's all been collected.

I had a call from a contractor last week, who'd been doing some tree felling work at Brackenburgh, near Penrith. This is a very large country estate and has about five separate farms within its grounds. It turns out that the gardens of the main house were becoming overgrown by yew trees, some of which had to be removed.