VOLUNTEERS have helped a nature trust to set up what could be a lucrative sideline fuelling summer barbecues.
People from Durham and Northumberland joined staff from the Durham WildLife Trust on a two-day charcoal burning project in Baal Hill Wood, near Wolsingham.
Guided by expert Maurice Pyle, the only commercial producer in Tyne and Wear and Durham, they burned native hardwoods in two metal kilns.
The resulting charcoal will be bagged and sold in trust centres and shops.
Reserves officer John Gorst said: "The project is part of a drive for sustainable woodland management.
"Producing charcoal is a way of adding value to timber that is worth very little commercially."
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