The tale of the Woodland Notice Boards.

Shortly after the Parish Council was awarded a Gardening Licence so that people could do work in the area that was to become our woodland without being guilty of trespass, Jim Grogan was offered two notice boards that were past their best and surplus to requirements in Delamere Forest. He jumped at the offer and the two boards, smartened up with some coats of wood treatment, were installed within what was then the new woodland – one at the Broomheath Lane gateway and the other at the Hockenhull Lane gateway. There they have been for over 20 years, keeping the users of the woodland up-to-date with the progress and the plans of, firstly, the Parish Council Sub-Committee and then the Trust (which now (amazingly) has been in existence for getting on for 12 years.)

When the Saxon Heath woodland became part of Tarvin Community Woodland, we also wanted to put a notice board within that area. This, of course, involved purchasing one – and the price being asked for really rather indifferent boards was frightening! However, Tony Gibbs, a regular visitor to Tarvin, is a time-served cabinet maker and he offered to make one for just the cost of the materials. His task is now finished and the notice board is installed in the Saxon Heath woodland, facing towards the kissing gate on Fairfax Avenue – and very fine it looks. The quality of the workmanship really is superb and it is almost certain that we could not have afforded to purchase such a board at full market price

At about the same time, it was decided that the two original boards deserved some TLC and Derek Rawden agreed to take on the restoration, beginning with the Broomheath Lane board. Derek is a very capable woodworker – as evidenced by his restoration of the "Countryside & Wildlife Award 2000" boards and he is not daunted by a bit of hard work. However, when he began to disassemble the board, it broke apart into a lot of useless pieces – it was completely rotten and unsalvageable.

The job had changed from minor restoration to total replacement. Willing though he is, the Trustees felt that it would be unfair for Derek to be landed with a job of that size and so, when Tony Gibbs offered to make two more boards for us at the same cost as the first one in Saxon Heath, the Trustees accepted his offer with almost unseemly alacrity.

It will take several months for the next two boards to be produced. However, Tony is optimistic that they should be ready before the New Year and so it looks as if Tarvin Community Woodland will have three brand-new notice boards fitted during 2019. Timber care for the new boards involves merely an occasional coating with Osmo oil and so, provided that is done, they should last even longer than the two recycled Forestry Commission boards have done. "Start with good stuff and it will last" seems to be a good motto!