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THE WOOD FROM THE TREES
Page 54
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David Garnham runs a busy road transport operation, but still manages to enjoy the countryside in his working hours. Tim
Maughan met him in an East Anglian forest he nature of road transport requires 111 many operators to work in all kinds of • unpleasant surroundings. Drivers for Diss-based DA Garnham & Son are among the lucky minority:they spend a lot of time in lush woodland.This family firm is a specialist timber haulier, and its two trucks head deep into East Anglian forests to collect felled trees.
The company was founded 50 years ago by David Garnham. He started out as a tree feller. cutting down trees for timber merchants.Then he struck out on his own and bought an ex-army four-wheel-drive truck which he equipped with a crane and a winch. By 1965 Garnham was running four HGVs.
We rendezvous with his son and current MD David Garnham junior, and driver Andrew Corbyn. Garnham junior's brother-in-law.
Volvo is the firm's marque of choice — Garnham runs two FM12s: a 40-tonne 4x2 and a44-tonne 6x2.There are three timber trailers, all equipped with pins to secure the loads.They cost about the same as a typical curtainsider. he remarks, adding: We carry all species of timber, all hard and soft woods."
Two-part operation The business is neatly split into two operations. Garnham handles wood for a Norfolk sawmill and also harvests and sells his own timber. -We haul timber for Tomson Sawmills," he reports. "It's a family firm,Tomson, with a large mill north of Norwich. We've been dealing with them for 20 years now." The sawmill specifies what type of timber is needed, then Garnham hunts it down. About 10% of the UK is covered by trees.The Forestry Commission is a major owner of British woodland and maintains a comprehensive timber sustainability programme.This allows selected trees tube chopped down, without upsetting the delicate balance of the country's woodlands.
By the time Garnham's Volvos pull up to collect consignments the felled trees have been chopped into logs.The firm only hauls 'round timber', which is carried lengthways. "We never practise crossloading," he says.
DA Garnham & Son is paid by the tonne and rates, he reports, are no higher than those in general haulage. However, Ga rnham's expertise in road transport and timber is a rare and valuable combination so the company does benefit from a constant stream of work.
We meet up in Kings Forest,some 40 miles south west of the'lbmson base.The two vehicles have come together especially for our meeting; this is not an everyday event. -Our paths may cross, but we never run together," Corbyn explains.
Lost in surviving patches
At one time the British Isles were virtually covered in forest, and you can still lose yourself in the surviving patches," If you turn right here." Corbyn tells us,"you can go two, even three miles into the forest."
The tracks can get muddy, but they present no serious problems to the Volvos: "You can get 44-tonne trucks down the tracks, or fire routes, as they are called," says Garn ham. When we peer into the depths of the forestwe assume that it's uninhabited. In fact these trees conceal some homes and,shades of Robin Hood, an archery range.
Corbyn describes these forests as -chocolate bars"—swathes of woodland laid out in grids. It takes 30 minutes to load up a trailer.The timber is dropped at the Tomson site, and then the saws go about their work. Fences, rails and the like are fashioned from the round wood, at which point the second stage of the Garnham operation begins.
His specialist trucks haul the goods across the south of England, so the two trucks are loaded from forest to sawmill, and from sawmill to end customer.They only run empty en route to the forest to pick up more timber.
Garnham says: "We are hard and softwood timber merchants; we work on a number of private estates.
"But you are not allowed to fell trees without a felling licence even in a private wood the Forestry Commission tells you what you can and can't cut down."
Lead time of 30 years
Softwood, like Corsican and Scotch pine, grows relatively quickly; trees are generally 'minable' -ready for fellingafter 30 years.
Garnham buys wood from the Forestry Commission, private estates, and from agents who in turn buy timber from landowners.
This purchasing programme is what really separates him from the crowd. When Garnham buys timber it is not conveniently cut into round logs, ready for transit, He goes out, identifies his favoured trees, and fells them.
"Everything has to be taken into consideration; the tree could be in a wood, or in the middle of a held.he says. Corbyn points out that a tree might stand in a farmer's crop of wheat, which means that they can't get their hands on it until harvest is completed. -Sometimes we take Limber straight to the customer. Other times we store it: the markets do go up and down,Garnham adds. It seems that sycamore and beech deteriorate quickly, while oak lasts for a decade.All timber felled by the company is sold to sawmills. Garnham chops trees down himself, or uses the services of specialist fellers:-You have to put a fall, or a wedge, into the tree, and you have to look up to check for falling branches. It only takes five minutes to chop a tree down."
'Ihat said, it can take an entire day to clear a mature felled tree. When the big boys fall they leave a mass of boughs, branches and twigs to be tidied up.
It can be gruelling work, but Garnham would not do anything else. As a gentle October breeze rustles through Kings Forest, he looks content. He is quite literally, in his element: "We can be in the forest from 6am in the morning, which means leaving home at 5am to get through Norwich. Servicing, road tax, fuel -they mean that you need to work harder for your money.
I am happy with timber; I don't think that I would like to go into general haulage.We do timber haulage, buying.felling, and selling." •