Working Woods Scotland Course 2022 & 2023

Summary Description:

The Working Woods Scotland (WWS) Course is a 3-day training event that brings together professionals from across the homegrown Scottish Hardwood (and premium softwood) industry; from foresters and woodland managers, to sawmillers and woodworkers. WWS course content covers all aspects of the industry, teaching attendees about silvicultural practices for hardwood production, grading and valuing standing timber and round logs, hardwood processing (such as milling and kilning practices), and finding a market for your hardwood timber products. The course is also designed to help build links with other professionals in the industry, increasing mutual understanding and encouraging trade and collaboration across the industry to its (and their individual businesses) benefits. Funding will be split over 2 years to help fund the WWS courses that are scheduled to run in Autumn 2022, and 2023.

Project Outcomes:

"Day 1 was run at the Scottish Wood sawmill by Gavin Munro, Jim Birley and Kate Tuer, who taught the attendees how to grade and value logs and standing trees – with a detailed explanation of the ‘Hoppus foot’. Day 2 took the group into the woodlands at the Dalmeny estate, where Rick Warrell, Kate Tuer, and Andrew MacQueen, and provided an in-depth look into the best silvicultural practices used to grow and manage broadleaves for hardwood production, with support from Neil Aitchison the woodland manager at the estate – starting literally from the ground up by looking at soil types for planting before going through the different successional stages of different oak plantations.

"The final day saw a return to the sawmill for a closer examination of milling, drying, secondary processing and timber pricing, to round off the course. While very informative the course stuck true to its aim of encouraging cross-sectional integration by making each day very interactive with high levels of group work to encourage knowledge sharing between trainees. The course also included 2 evening meals to allow for more casual socialising between trainees, trainers, and organisers alike, to help build bridges and understanding between the different reaches of the hardwood sector."