Out of the woods

There’s an old saying that you get warm twice when you use logs on your open fire. Once, when you take your chainsaw or axe to the tree and slice it into log-sized pieces before loading it into a trailer. And then again when you burn the wood on your open fire or stove.

But while more and more people are installing wood burning stoves in their homes – because of the atmosphere they create and because of the green credentials of heating a home this way – not many will have access to an endless supply of trees to chop up. Or, for that matter, a chainsaw.

Which is where Ben Rennison comes in. The 24-year-old runs a business supplying sustainably felled and locally sourced logs from the family farm at Manfield, near Darlington. And needless to say, as the nights draw in and the winds blow ever colder, this is his busiest time of year. “Business has expanded remarkably from day one,” he says. “I can’t believe how much it has grown in just two years.”

It’s a strenuous job, calling for lots of energy and not a little muscle power. “Although we have new machinery that saves a lot of labour, hour upon hour of firewood handling leaves you absolutely shattered,” says Ben. And after a long day in the timber yard, there’s a lot of delivery route planning, order taking, scheduling and promoting that takes up most of the evening.

But Ben, who ran a garden centre near Piercebridge before selling it on to country store Sam Turner and heading off travelling, has always loved the great outdoors. “I like nothing more than waking up in the morning, making a cup of tea, and walking round the farm and timber yard with my three dogs, whether the sun is shining or it’s raining or snowing,” he says.

Ben first saw the opportunity to wield a chainsaw for a living after friends and family members asked where they could get firewood. There was a lot of seasoned timber on the farm left over after his father had the farmhouse rebuilt.

“I thought it would be good to put the timber to good use and set away with a chainsaw and axe,” says Ben. “Things progressed much more quickly than I had thought; I saved up and bought my first tractor and splitter within a year of starting. In the second year I saved up and bought a firewood processor, making the work less labour intensive. Recently, I bought a forwarding trailer and a log grab to allow us to take timber from our own wood.”

All the wood is sourced locally in the North-East, and each time a tree is felled a new tree is planted to offset the carbon emissions. “We don’t plant our own trees at the farm for firewood, but we have planted over 600 ornamental trees this year around the farm,” says Ben, who tries to ensure that the business is as environmentally friendly as possible. Deliveries of firewood are grouped together by location to decrease emissions on the road and the logs are well seasoned so less smoke is emitted on burning.

Wood sculptor Lukas Beben at work

“Open fires are fantastic, as are wood burning stoves - they both bring a different feel to a room,” says Ben. “The benefits of stoves are that they are cleaner, easier to control, more efficient and safer if pets and children are around.”

To keep the business on the go in the warmer months of the year when demand for logs falls, Ben has branched out into landscaping, supplying many local schools with monthly maintenance works and new features such as ponds, mazes, sand pits and stages.

But logs are the mainstay of the business, and Ben need to think well ahead to ensure the wood is well seasoned and dry for the following year. He has a lot of repeat trade, so it seems his customers are satisfied. “We have a Field House loyalty card scheme and run competitions giving away free log sheds and logs, which is a great way to bring in new customers,” he says.

When he’s not working, Ben and his girlfriend like to take time out walking the dogs around the woods and down by the river. “I feel extremely lucky to have such great surroundings on my doorstep,” says Ben. “I don’t take them for granted. I wouldn’t move from the countryside for anything.”

And after a walk through the woods in the chill of an autumn evening, what could be better than to return home to a real fire with its crackling logs and leaping flames...

• Field House Logs, Pinkney Carr Farm, Manfield, Darlington, DL2 2RD
• T: 01325-731717; E: info@fieldhouselogs.co.uk; W: fieldhouselogs.co.uk
• Also available on the Field House Logs website are creations by Durham craftsman and gifted furniture maker Lukas Beben, who recently turned his hand to wood sculpting. He makes all sorts of sculptures from fairytale figures to ride-on ponies. These hand-crafted reindeer cost £140.