Forestry Stages a Comeback at Three Counties Show
2010-06-14

It’s been several years since the fine sounds of forestry in full flow have been heard at the annual Three Counties Show at Malvern 18 – 19 June, but it’s back with a vengeance in 2010, with plenty of noise and big machinery!

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The popular Forestry section was always a great hit with show visitors, but as with all events, attractions change from time to time to retain visitor interest and it has been absent for a while.

Show organizer, the Three Counties Agricultural Society, is committed to promoting the role of arboriculture as part of its charitable objectives, and decided to resurrect Forestry this year.

Forestry Steward, Adrian Hope, of Adrian Hope Tree Services has been working closely with the Forestry Committee on an exciting programme of demonstrations and competitions guaranteed to stop visitors in their tracks.

The Forestry section aims to highlight both traditional and modern methods of working with wood and demonstrate how advances in technology and machinery complement, rather than replace, tried and tested techniques.

The revitalised area ties in neatly with the Forestry Commission’s recent Wood Fuel campaign, which aims to encourage the whole country to work towards creating and working with renewable fuels like wood.

It is hoped that the current interest in sustainable living will mean that the forestry area gathers momentum each year and continues to grow.

There’s an exciting timetable planned for all three days of the Show, and Martyn Jackson and students from Herefordshire’s Holme Lacy College are getting in on the act with demonstrations of fencing, hurdle making and clefting.

Other exhibitors include Pershore College, who will be demonstrating tree climbing, and stick-maker, Reg Marshall. Visitors will also be able to see a working saw mill in action.

Brand new for 2010 is the Three Counties Chainsaw Competition – a thrilling test of precision, skill and speed, open only to those with a Chainsaw Certificate (at least CS30) of course!

The competition takes place on Sunday June 20, and heats will be held throughout the day. It promises to be a tightly fought battle and the winner will be announced at 4pm. First prize is a magnificent Husqvarna 435 15” chainsaw, worth around £200, and there are runner-up prizes too.

Said Three Counties Show Manager, Doreen Smillie: “It’s great to have the Forestry section back at Malvern this year, as another exciting attraction for our visitors, but we are also keen to support the Commission’s efforts to promote wood as a renewable fuel source. We think this area has great potential and hope it develops year on year”

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