The Woodlanders finally took delivery of a renovated charcoal kiln, which has been given to us on a long-term loan by West Sussex County Council.

The kiln and lid were delivered to the nearby industrial estate, so the next challenge for Brian and myself was to get the kiln and lid into the wood. There was only one way to move them - this was to roll both kiln and lid up the path towards Longlands Wood, and we now appreciate how hamsters feel. After a lot of effort and with the assistance of our respective wives, the kiln was finally in place.

Brian and I soon realised that for the kiln to operate efficiently, we would need to make some alterations. So we drew out the design, measured the kiln and ordered the materials from local blacksmith, Alan Miles of Henfield. The modifications entailed cutting eight slots in the base of the kiln, to accommodate the four flues and four vents. To do this we needed to turn the kiln on its side, which tested both brain and muscle power! Whilst Brian worked on the kiln, I was busy digging the nearby ditches out to get the soil which would later on be used to seal the kiln. The kiln was finished and put the right way up then the flues were attached and vents inserted.

The following weekend, we needed to fill the kiln, as the plan was to have the burn over the Small Dole Show weekend. As with all Woodlanders events, we kept a very close eye on the weather forecast; but given the summer we'd had, there hadn't been many times when we'd had to worry about the rain. The weekend of August 9th was not one of them, far from it, that day was indeed a record-breaking one with temperatures reaching 30C plus. Now the famous saying “mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun” can be replaced by “mad Woodlanders saw and chop wood in the midday sun”, as we needed to saw and chop enough timber to fill the 6’ by 4’ kiln.

By the middle of the afternoon, as the kiln was starting to fill, and we were sweating like mad, the idea of doing a charcoal burn the following weekend seemed to smack a little bit of insanity.However, by 4pm the kiln was filled and the lid was put on, and it was as we put the lid on you could tell how warm the day was, because both the kiln and lid were hot to the touch.

Small Dole Show weekend came around and it was an early start for the charcoal burners. You need to start early to enable a large fire to be built and burnt and create enough embers with which to light the kiln, and also for me to cook the bacon for breakfast. It took about 2½ hours to get enough embers, 3 bucketfuls, but by 10am the kiln was well away. We also set up in the wood a display of old tools, books and demonstrated some crafts, for visitors to the show and wood to have a look at. The setup in the clearing began to paint a picture in your mind of how perhaps woods like ours used to look like many years ago with all the activities going on. The kiln was still burning at about 8pm. We had been warned that it could burn for anything up to 48 hours or more, so overnight we decided to block up the vents and flues to only allow a little air in and just keep the kiln going, but not to all burn away. Next day was another early start to check that the contents of the kiln had not caught alight overnight and turned to ash, luckily this was not the case. So the vents and flues were unblocked and the kiln awoken.

The Sunday after the show was when the Woodlanders were hosting a meeting of the Local Sussex Group of the Pole-Lathe Turners Association, and their leader is Mike Gordon. Previously Mike had been a charcoal burner so Brian and I were able to get a few tips and benefit from his knowledge.

The kiln was finally shut up on the Monday morning, the lid sealed with sharp sand, flue removed and the vents blocked up with bricks and soil.The kiln took about 48 hours to cool down, but to ensure that it was cold we left it for a week, otherwise if there was any heat left in there it could re-ignite and you end up with just ash.

The following Saturday was the moment of truth and excitement, so it was with a little bit of trepidation that Brian and myself removed the seal of sand around the lid and slid it back. To our surprise there was some charcoal in the kiln, in fact it was about two-thirds full.It was then my job to climb into the kiln, having got suitably kitted out in boiler suit and facemask, as a kiln full of charcoal generates a huge amount of dust.The first task was to remove the larger pieces of charcoal together with any unburnt bits, known as brown ends, and then the smaller stuff is shoveled out and graded. In all it took me about a day to empty the kiln and fill 23 bags with the charcoal.

Given that it was our first burn using the big kiln, I think we all deemed it a success. We all learnt many lessons, had some fun and the state of me when I had emptied the kiln caused much amusement to many.The memory of my first big charcoal burn will be the heat on the day when we filled the kiln and the smell that hangs around the wood after the burn.

Should anyone be walking in the wood and you have not seen the kiln yet it is sited in the clearing near to Longlands Wood and you can all see how we are trying to develop this area into a proper worksite where we can do charcoal burning and demonstrate other crafts.

- by Chris Burchell Collins