Planking our own timber

It was all hands on deck yesterday, as Mark, Alun, Simon and Martyn loaded more than a dozen oak trees onto the huge Hudson saw that Charles and William Vernon-Miller supplied and operated for us.

Martyn had already stripped the bark off the trunks and the timber was cut into planks and will be stored and dried for 3 or 4 years or more before it can be used in some of our houses and cottages.

We also had to use the fork lift and Martyn's crane to manhandle the timber; which was pretty weighty!

The timber will be stored under cover and raised off the ground with small chocs separating each layer - at some stage it will be turned to prevent the wood warping in one direction or the other to keep it as straight as possible.

Overbury Fireworks and Bonfire Night

A big thank you to everyone who helped make the Overbury Fireworks and Bonfire Night on Sunday evening such a success.

Our special thanks to Bruce for the fireworks, Martyn and the Overbury Farms team for building the bonfire, Tod, Harry and James Philips for assisting with the lighting and setting up all the tables for the food, David, Toff and John for collecting over £500 for the Village Hall in their bucket collection and the Friends of Overbury School for providing refreshments (they sold out after the 250th hot dog).

The fireworks were outstanding (the photos from Ant Sanger-Davies - tiny image files so only give a little of their impact) and the hotdogs and mulled wine really hit the spot on such a chilly night, although the fire also gave off quite a bit of heat!

Thank you also to the children from Overbury First School who carved a row of beautiful pumpkins to help light the way down School Lane.


And of course, our congratulations to Frazer Loveday, who won the competition for the best guy and whose prize was to light the bonfire !