One Ash - Timber Re-United

This month sees the timber from a single ash tree reunited in many different forms.

On 13th February 2020, an ash tree was felled on the Englefield Estate near Reading. On 2nd July 2022, the wood from that tree will be coming back together in many different forms - items made by woodworkers, crafters and artists from across the country - in the One Ash Exhibition at Andover’s Chapel Arts Studios.

The aim of the One Ash project was to give local schoolchildren a greater understanding of the role of trees in our lives and encourage a greater connection with them - particularly ash trees, which are disappearing due to Ash Dieback disease.

In the autumn prior to the felling, pupils from four local schools - Andover CofE Primary, Appleshaw St Peter’s CofE Primary, Vernham Dean Gillums CofE Primary, and Harrow Way Community School - visited the ash tree to learn about and connect with it as a living organism. At around 80 years old and 22 metres tall, it was in the early stages of ash dieback. The children and their teachers then returned a few months later to witness the tree being felled and, via artists’ journals, have been able to follow the progress of its wood being made into many different, useful and beautiful products.

Tree Felling Day was an unforgettable experience. The Englefield Estate forestry team were joined by 130 schoolchildren, plus ATU volunteers and some of the crafters who would be using the wood. To watch the cutting down of a tree they had got to know was quite emotional for the children, and they left messages of thanks with the tree before it was felled.

The day was also about showcasing sustainable forestry. Some of the woodworkers set up demonstrations to show the children how trees give us timber, which can then be used to make a huge variety of products. Richard and Rob, the Estate foresters who had felled the tree, showed the children how they made firewood and twig pencils. The very first thing to be made from the One Ash was a clothes peg, by green-woodworker Peter Jameson, within just an hour of the felling.

Meanwhile, the ATU volunteers laid on a feast for lunch - warming soups and bread rolls for a chilly wet winter day, fruit, and of course lots of cake! After lunch 100 new oak whips (saplings) were planted to replace the one mature ash (we could not replace it with ash due to restrictions around Ash Dieback). All the children went home with twig pencils from the One Ash.

Over the following few weeks ATU volunteers and the Estate forestry team sorted and moved the timber (see our One Ash Distribution blog). Unfortunately the Covid-19 lockdown meant there was a delay of a few months, but eventually it was all distributed around the UK to different artists and crafters. It also meant that the schoolchildren weren’t able to visit workshops to watch them at work, but the woodworkers kept us updated with journal entries and photos which we added to our blog - see the One Ash Journals pages.

Now, finally, after more than two years, the pieces of wood that were once the One Ash tree are being reunited. The ‘One Ash - An Anthology’ exhibition will be held at the Chapel Arts Studios in Andover to celebrate the life and generosity of the tree.

Alex Marshall, ATU’s resident ecologist, says “After seeing the branches on the woodland floor, I’m really excited to see it reunited again as a collection of end-products in the exhibition space.”

Wendy Davis, project lead and ATU founder states “We really value working with Chapel Arts Studios in this project. We know the importance of art and the arts in connecting people to nature, the value in sharing this work with a wider audience and the fact that art has a way of allowing a more emotional response to the subject - which is vital if we are to empower people to protect the natural world.”

Susan Francis of Chapel Arts Studios and the exhibition’s curator says “It is a real joy to collaborate with ATU to deliver what is a really joyful exhibition. Environmental concerns can leave us anything but joyful, but this exhibition, rooted in sustainable forestry, demonstrates the generosity of nature, when managed sensitively and with care. Not only is it a celebration of the life of the tree but a celebration of the truly amazing creativity and human skill in collaborating with that timber, responding to its quirks and nuances, to the changing nature of the drying process, producing items of beauty, thoughtfulness and usefulness - objects and images that support and enrich our lives day to day. To really appreciate the results of this project, I would encourage everyone to visit the space, breathe in the smell of the wood itself, and be surrounded by the output of just one solitary tree.”

The exhibition at The Chapel is open to the public between Thursday 7th July and Saturday 23rd July, on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, 11am-4pm.