A TEAM of charcoal burners will take up residence at the Dean Heritage Centre on Saturday (August 27) to demonstrate a traditional forest craft.

The exercise takes three days and involves a number of volunteers monitoring the stack through the night to ensure a successful burn.

The Dean Heritage Centre is one of the few places left in the UK where charcoal is burned regularly and the event is held annually over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Clayton Ryder, site manager at the Dean Heritage Centre, and his team will be using timber obtained from local forest land but they have hopes that in the future, coppicing projects will allow them to use timber from their own site.

Clayton said: "The Charcoal Burn is an opportunity to see a very traditional craft that has values of sustainability as well as producing a local product that is free from unnecessary chemicals.

"We currently source the timber offsite but with our new coppicing project on Bradley Hill we hope to use wood cultivated onsite in the future. Coppicing is a valuable process but it takes time."

Also taking place on site across the weekend will be chainsaw carving demonstrations, pole-lathe turning and bush craft activities. The bush craft demonstrations will be available on Sunday afternoon and the Gloucestershire bee keepers will be attending on Bank Holiday Monday.

In addition there will be a photography exhibition by local artist Ben Locke whose work has been featured on BBC Springwatch, five on site galleries exploring the history of the Forest, a reconstructed Victorian cottage, an adventure playground, and a variety of animals – a wide range of things to do and see for all the family. 

Harri Le Claire, event manager at the centre, said: "The weekend is a fantastic opportunity to see a tradition that is no longer commonly practised as well as everything else the centre has to offer, Visitors are often surprised by how much we have available to see on site."

Charcoal created in past burns will be on sale in the centre's newly refurbished shop.