"Here I still am, digging holes"

Malcolm’s family have been farmers for generations, rearing cattle and sheep in various locations around Cornwall.  At one point his father and grandfather travelled to Australia as “Ten Pound Poms” thinking the climate might help grandfather’s health, but the dry dusty conditions made it worse, and they returned after five years.  Changes in farming practices and the economic climate at the time made traditional family farms less viable, and following the death of his grandfather and the loss of the farm Malcolms’s father and brothers chose different directions. His father and uncle started a fencing business and the young Malcolm helped out. Growing up he imagined himself as a fireman, or a policeman, and planned to work with his father at fencing until he joined up.  However, that never happened and apart from a stint as a barman at the Carlyon Bay Hotel he is still making fences 24 years later. The work was standard agricultural stock fencing, using posts and wire. Until the Covid pandemic they were responsible for all the fencing at the Royal Cornwall Show – a mammoth task.

The first of Malcolm’s signature chestnut fencing was at Restormel Lodge 15 years ago.  He had been sent a load of Duchy chestnut timber and told to “see what you could do with that”.  He made a simple pale fence about six metres long. Tree guards were next. More fencing followed at the Duchy of Cornwall Nursery site and elsewhere. From the start Malcolm enjoyed it and wanted to do more.  He works all year and has two men who help him. The tools he uses are few and basic.  To start with he made notches for the rails with a chisel but now uses a chain mortiser set to speed things up, and he values his special Australian grinder plane. His latest job at Tresemple is the biggest yet.  He has completed around 200 metres of chestnut fencing.  This means digging holes for 128 posts, cutting and making notches for 256 rails (the horizontals) and cutting and fixing over two thousand pales (the thin verticals).  The timber has been cleft before it arrives but will need to be split down further to the right size and planed if necessary before it is used.

The Duchy of Cornwall manages over 6,000 acres of woodland; 1,850 in Hereford where Malcolm’s timber comes from. Here there are roughly 30 acres of chestnut plantation managed as coppice, as well as some individual trees in the mixed woodlands.  The timber will be 15-20 years old before it is harvested and left for a season prior to clefting (splitting along the grain).  It is cut during the winter months, from November to February, when the sap levels in the wood are at their lowest.  As we hear all too often nowadays the trees are threatened by disease. One particular disease is a fungal disease called ink rot which attacks the tree’s roots.  This is not a new problem; it has existed in Europe for centuries but is currently having a resurgence.  However, the biggest and most pernicious problem is not disease but squirrels which cause catastrophic damage and are very difficult to control. The timber arrives in Cornwall stacked on massive lorries.  One of the drivers assumed it must just be firewood on account of its bendiness.  All parts of the wood are used making it a sustainable product. Trimmings are used for firewood, and sawdust and planings are used for mulch or animal bedding.  When the bark has to be removed that too is used for mulch.

Chestnut has several qualities which make it suitable for this type of fencing.  Its high levels of tannin act as a natural preservative making it less prone to decay and good for outdoor use without the need for chemical treatment to prevent rot.  It is easily split and shaped but retains hardness.  It starts pale golden but naturally weathers to a silver grey, and the coarse grain and crooked shapes add tremendous character and life in a rural setting.

Nowadays most of Malcolm’s work is for the Duchy.  As well as fences he has made a bridge and boardwalk.  His ideas come from many sources, including Instagram and sites in Australia, New Zealand and the USA.  He has several ideas he would like to develop; benches, tables, tree benches may all appear in due course.  The family now has a mobile sawmill which can make planks and posts and opens opportunities for more products.   Whatever he makes next, we can be sure it will be beautiful, sustainable and enduring.