The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees

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So, Penn is less of a romantic figure turning his wood to good use, and more of a miniscule lumber merchant operating at (we can presume) considerable loss to turn an idealised tree into several artefacts, many of which he would seem to have no use for other than as chapters of this book. Description: In 2012, Robert Penn felled (and replanted) a great ash from a Welsh wood. He set out to explore the true value of the tree of which we have made the greatest and most varied use in human history. How many things can be made from one tree? avoided repeating some concepts (I noticed this at least 2/3 times), as if some chapters were meant to be "self standing" and needed to introduce concepts to readers who didn't read the previous chapters The Woodland Trust details numerous ways in which people can get involved. It runs several preservation initiatives, from recording the health of veteran trees in their area via the trust’s Ancient Tree Inventory, to helping map urban tree cover, which can then be used to lobby councils for more trees or better protection for existing ones.

Penn is a fine writer, and the mix of research, reportage and personal reflection is persuasive . . . A lovely book (Ed Cumming Observer) Beautifully crafted, [ The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees ranges] freely over intellectual territory - masculinity, nostalgia, identity . . . Fascinating . . . Never have the benefits of getting your chopper out appeared more obvious (Robert Crampton, Books of the Year The Times) A wonderful journey and pleasure to read, I learnt a lot. However I feel this book is also a bit of a missed opportunity. Perhaps it helped that this was my second book from this Robert Penn (I read It's all about the bike) and my expectations were firm on the huge amount of passion coming through - on that the author delivered in full. Some argue that planting non-native species can affect native biodiversity. Over thousands of years, a network of interconnected flora, fauna and fungi has evolved alongside our native trees; replace the trees with foreign ones and those relationships may suffer. There is some redundancy that was annoying. Structural & crushing strength of wood was one of these areas. He covered cell structure several times for the same reasons in arrows, tool handles, baseball bats.Over the next two years he travelled across Britain, to Europe and the USA, to the workshops and barns of a generation of craftsmen committed to working in wood. He watched them make over 45 artefacts and tools that have been in continual use for centuries, if not millennia.

kept a more consistent depth among the various "technical" bits (sometimes it's very technical, sometimes you feel it could have been more exhaustive) No one obsesses like the English. In this book, Penn gets it in his head to find a perfect Ash tree, cut it down, and have as many things possible crafted from it. You get to follow him through the woods of Wales where he resides, looking at stands of Ash trees, none quite right, until he finds his perfect 100 year old tree. The title is misleading -- Penn does not personally make most (if any?) of the items produced from his (singular) tree. This of course makes sense, as many of the artefacts he desires are specialised items, fashioned by expert craftsmen who in most cases have spent most of their lives honing their skills. An amateur would have no hope of replicating that sort of work. However, the overall narrative of the book is somewhat disappointing due to the combination of this and the fact that this is not quite the romantic mission it first appears. When you read that Penn has his own small wood, the expectation is that he is going to describe how he makes (or gets others to make) useful items from its products. Instead, Penn describes specifically searching the country for an 'ideal' ash tree, surveying woods and coppices until he finds one that meets his industrial criteria, and then felling it, sawing it, and canvassing a number of craftsmen around the world to get them to make curious items from his lumber. In many cases, his wood is still no good -- the industry prefers fast-grown ash to his hundred-plus-year-old slow-grown timber -- so these chapters describe craftsmen working with their preferred material (the descriptions of this still worth reading) and sending Penn away with a curio.What a great book! Written with a great insight and a delicate balance between the scientific and biological and the utilitarian dimensions of the life of a tree, it offers the reader a chance to paradoxically (at first sight) experience awe and admiration before the miracle of life that a standing, living tree symbolises, and the intimate knowledge with which mankind has learned to exploit this most valuable natural resource to its full extent. The detailed descriptions of the author's meetings with many diverse craftsmen and artisans emphasizes a truth that we are all aware of, to varying extents, namely that craftmanship indeed does stand for an intimate knowledge of nature and man's full participation in its processes, knowledge and role which are in many cases on the verge of extinction, alas. I don't think I'm the first person to react about halfway through the book with the thought that this book should have been named 'The Men who made things out of A Tree'. The author is a good writer and talks to lots of interesting people and does cover a lot about woodworking. But the only thing he actually makes is firewood, so.... He didn't mention the beauty of some of its grain patterns in different cuts well enough early on, although he did take his log to a sawmill. I found that section far too simplified & he never mentioned staining & finishing of ash compared to other woods. It does have large pores & that can be an issue with fine woodwork & writing surfaces. He mentions the grain patterns at the end, but doesn't get into staining at all, surprising since he wife should know.