Charcoal making is the oldest of all New Forest industries dating back to the Bronze Age when it enabled our ancestors to smelt tin and copper to produce bronze. It died out in the late 1800s and experienced brief revivals during two world wars before disappearing from the Forest in the middle of the last century. However, in 2014 a small group of conservationists set up a community woodland project in Pondhead Inclosure, near Lyndhurst and one of their main aims was to restore the largest remaining area of hazel coppice woodland in the New Forest.
The group were determined to manage the woodland on a fully sustainable and self-funding basis and after looking at various options, they decided to re-introduce the oldest of all New Forest industries – charcoal making. Coppiced woodland had produced a sustainable source of timber for charcoal production for centuries and so the group took their lead from the past. Run entirely by volunteers, Pondhead Conservation Trust was set up as a registered conservation charity, and the group are now in their 13th season of making charcoal from their coppiced timber. Over this period they have produced more than 50 tonnes of premium BBQ charcoal that has been sold entirely within the New Forest to cover the group’s annual overheads.
Not of this would have been possible without initial start-up funding provided by grants from the New Forest National Park Authority and the New Forest Trust which enabled the group to buy their first kiln back in 2014. However, with the passage of time and 50 tonnes later, a new kiln was required and the New Forest Trust stepped in again with another grant to supplement funds generously donated by Omaze. Chairman of Pondhead Conservation Trust, Derek Tippetts, commented, “the New Forest Trust took a leap of faith with us at the outset when the success or otherwise of our project was unknown and we are extremely grateful for their continued support”.