Building a hut – the beginners’ guide
Keen to try your hand at building a hut from scratch? Experienced
woodsman David Blair takes up a challenge to produce the ultimate
how-to guide for beginners.
B
uilding with timber is not
rocket science. Creating shelter
is a simple, primal necessity
demonstrated by children building
dens at every opportunity. The same
basic principles apply, whether you
are building a hut, a home or a
chicken coop. Give your hut a good
hat, jacket and boots because it will
be out there in all weathers! That
means a completely waterproof roof
covering that sheds water clear of the
walls, external cladding that keeps out
the rain, and foundations that keep
the wood out of the mud and clear of
splash.
With good design, sitka can last
longer than oak. It requires careful
design and attention to detail,
essentially avoiding anywhere that
water can get trapped, particularly
exposed end-grain wood. A mobile
sawmill could cut all the timber for a
modest hut in a day or so. Before you
start building anything, have a good
This page, top: The team working out a plan of
action. Facing page: Erecting the wall panels. Photos:
David Blair.
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plan... then you can love it when the
plan comes together. And work with
others... a team is greater than the
sum of its parts.
Rules of thumb
1. Don’t hit it with a hammer!
2. Measure twice, cut once
3. When building in Scotland, get
it wind- and waterproof as soon as
possible
4. There is more than one way to
build a hut.
You will need
1. Hammer and nails (and/or screw
gun and screws)
2. A crosscut saw
3. Spirit level
4. Tape measure and pencil
5. Staple gun and staples
6. Paving slabs, sawn timber, sheeting,
membrane, windows and door
7. A plan
8. Patience!
Site selection and foundations
From the ground up, choose your
site carefully, considering sun, wind,
access, view and levelness. Timber
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
buildings work well with simple pad
foundations allowing good airflow
underneath and adapting easily to
sloping sites. For small buildings like
huts, paving slabs – ideally the large,
heavy duty ones (600x600mm) –
make good foundations and can often
be reclaimed.
For buildings no bigger than 4m in
any dimension, a pad in each corner
should be sufficient. Use a taut
string line and pegs to mark out the
external dimensions of the hut on
the site. Do it carefully, checking the
diagonal dimensions are equal. Once
you’re happy with it, lay a paving slab
at each corner, leaving a 50mm gap
to the string line. Using a spade, cut
round all four edges of each slab. Lay
the slabs aside and dig out a levelbottomed pad down to subsoil; if you
are still in soft ground you can ram
rocks into the earth. Use a bucket of
sand for each pad, spread carefully
and pack level. Lay the slab on top,
protect it with a piece of wood and
give it a gentle tamp down; check for
level.
Woodland shelter
Using a straight length of timber and
a spirit level, work from the highest
corner and set the four corners level
by adding concrete blocks, bricks or
pieces of broken slab. Lay a dampproof membrane on top of each
foundation; then the foundation
beams are laid on top, making sure
they have 150mm clearance to the
ground – measure the distance
between them and sight across them
for parallel, adjusting the foundations
if necessary. These beams are ideally
fairly chunky, at least 150x100mm
and preserved or durable, as they are
closest to the ground. Nail a section
of 150x25mm plank onto the ends to
complete the foundation frame (A).
for 2.4m or less. The joists can then
be cheek-nailed using 100mm nails
(C). Nail a plank along the ends of
all the joists, then pull the remaining
breathable membrane tight onto the
face of the plank and staple.
Lay a temporary floor of sheet
material or planks so you have a flat
surface to build the wall panels on.
the outside of the whole frame and
stapled on. Remember to start at the
bottom so any overlaps keep the rain
out and if insulating install, behind
the sheet material before fitting the
membrane. With Scotland’s wet
climate, get your building wind- and
waterproof as soon as possible, giving
you a dry space to work in.
Creating the frame
Post and beam structures use
substantial vertical posts and
horizontal beams with diagonal
triangulation to create a rigid
structural frame. For huts and other
small buildings, it may be easier to
build lightweight timber frames,
which rely on sheet material to give
them rigidity (triangulation). These
frames can be built flat on the floor
(D) and then erected one by one
and joined to create a rigid box with
windows and door space built in (E).
A timber frame consists of horizontal
top and bottom rails with vertical
sections (studs) between and
intermediate horizontals (dwangs)
and can be constructed from lengths
of 100x50mm. In small buildings
like huts, as long as there is a sheet
of SterlingOSB or similar in each
wall, the structure will be rigid; the
remainder of the internal wall can
be clad with sawn timber. Leave a
100mm space at the corner to receive
the next wall panel by adding an
extra stud (F).
Laying out the floor joists
A breathable membrane can
be pulled tight and stapled
across the foundation frame
to stop draughts through the
floor; this also creates a void
for insulation. Staple along
top surfaces and leave a metre
of membrane beyond the
foundation beams. Divide the
length of the foundation beams
by a whole number to get about
500-600mm between joists,
mark out and set the floor joists,
these should be long enough to
cover the slabs. Insert an extra
joist 25mm in from either end to
support the wall frame and give
a catch for the floor (B). Floor
joists should be 150x50mm for a
4m span, but can be 100x50mm
Once all four panels are erected,
a breather membrane (Tyvek or
similar) can be pulled tight around
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Woodland shelter
Now for the roof
The simplest roof design is flat (all
walls equal height). With a really
good membrane a flat roof might
work, but water drips off all edges
and so it’s not really recommended.
Next easiest is a single pitch roof
where the roof deck is given about
15 degrees pitch across the building.
The advantage is that all the water
run-off is along a single edge and
easily guttered clear of the building or
collected.
For a hut of 4m span or less, it
can be achieved in a single span of
150x50mm at 600mm spacing; the
roof joists should extend 150mm or
more beyond the walls. Corrugated
roof sheets (wiggly tin) are a simple
and effective solution and are
available in good lengths. It can
often be reclaimed, but always use
the same way up as previous. To
avoid condensation dripping
inside on frosty mornings,
lay the roof joists with the
pitch (G), cheek-nail them
into the wall heads and fit
dwangs between them along
the wall heads, then stretch a
breather membrane over the
top and staple tight. Battens
of 50x50mm can then be
nailed perpendicular to the
roof joists at 1m intervals
onto which the roof sheets
can be laid, making sure they
extend beyond the walls by at
least 150mm, and fixed with
roofing nails.
pitch shallow – 15
degrees or less – and
will need to clad
between the roof
joists with 25mm
thick boards or
sheet material. If
the surface is rough,
lay an old carpet or
underlay (checking
carefully for tacks
before laying the
membrane). Use
a good quality
membrane (EPDM,
Butyl Rubber or
pond liner), spread
another carefully
checked carpet on
top and then lay the
turf at least 100mm
thick; plant your spring bulbs in
amongst it for a splash of extra colour.
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Reforesting Scotland
The bottom edge of external timber
cladding should be cut with a finetoothed saw with a back angle of
about 20 degrees to create a drip edge
(H) – this can be achieved after the
cladding is all fitted by scribing a line
and cutting with a circular saw. When
attaching cladding or decking, use
Laying the floor
If using sheet material for the floor,
such as SterlingOSB or plywood, set
the joists so that whole sheets meet
on the centre of the joists (600mm
between centres). If laying floorboards
at 25mm thick, nail either side into
each joist, make sure joins meet on
joists and are staggered. If you are
insulating, you will need to batten the
membrane underneath and insulate
between joists before laying the floor.
Fitting the cladding
External cladding will last longer if it
is allowed good airflow all round, so
it can dry quickly when it gets wet.
Double battening is recommended in
which a vertical 50x25mm batten is
first nailed onto the outside of each
If you want a turf roof,
you will need to keep the
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vertical stud. Then counter battens
are nailed horizontally at about 1m
spacings through into each stud. The
vertical cladding can then be nailed
or screwed into the horizontal batons
leaving a 50mm air space behind.
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
external-grade fixings and drive them
carefully so the heads remain flush
with the surface.
So there you have it. It’s dead easy,
so go ahead and get building... you
know you want to!
David Blair is a Director of the
Kilfinan Community Forest who lives
and works at Dunbeag, www.dunbeag.
org.uk, www.kilfinancommunityforest.
com
Woodland shelter
Inhabiting forests –
the rules and regulations
As more people gain access to woodlands, plantations and forests – from
individuals and small private groups and partnerships, to constituted
community groups, big and small – questions around building and living
in the forest become more frequent. Here, Bernard Planterose and Peter
Caunt look at the key legislation and regulations that currently affect such
aspirations in Scotland.
M
aybe it’s quite a common
dream – the cabin in the
woods. Perhaps it’s a subset
of the bigger escape dream we all
carry within us. Almost everyone who
has ever owned, managed or even just
spent a lot of time within a particular
wood or forest has thought about
building some form of cabin, whether
to sleep over occasional nights or to
escape forever into the sylvan dream.
In areas of the world where the
relationship with woodlands and their
management is more intricate and
ongoing, you will find cabin culture.
Closest to us, it is particularly highly
developed in Norway, Sweden and
Finland, where cabins are a cultural
expression of a certain closeness with
nature or at least an aspiration to
maintain that. Sweden has the biggest
second home ownership in the world
but these ‘weekend’ or holiday homes
(stuga) are most often very small to
modest in size and serve to allow and
encourage small-scale ownership and
management of woodland.
We don’t have anything equivalent
in Scotland... yet. ‘Bothy’ remains
a word redolent of meaning in our
culture but is perhaps associated
historically with itinerant farm
workers and more recently with
hillwalking and stalking. But a need
is clearly growing for the woodland
bothy, and a few pioneering
individuals and community groups
have already engaged in the process
of making buildings to facilitate
new relationships with the land and
renewed forms of more intricate
woodland management and
habitation. In a country where timber
cladding still meets with opposition
from planning departments and trees
are required to be removed in the
vicinity of buildings, it is perhaps
not surprising that some have felt
compelled to build beyond the
legislation.
What the law says
So you are an ‘occupier’ of a
wood or part thereof, and you
are carrying out woodland
management or related activities
on that land. You require some
form of shed to perform a variety
of functions including tool and
equipment storage. What are
the basic rules and regulations
you need to be aware of? In the
first place, it is important to
understand that you must deal
with both planning legislation
and building standards, and that
these present quite distinct sets
of hurdles, even though they will
most likely be administered from
the same office at your Local
Authority (LA). Note that this
article only refers to Scotland and
there are sometimes differences
in interpretation of some rules
and standards between different
Local Authorities. Many of these
have very helpful websites dealing
with much or all of the points
raised in this article, and may be
the best starting point for anyone
considering building anything in a
woodland or forest.
The main legislation to consult is
the Town and Country Planning
General Permitted Development
(Scotland) Order 1992 (GPDO),
Part 7 of which deals specifically
with forestry buildings and
operations. This planning
legislation is currently under
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A caravan treehouse, an ingenious solution to forest shelter.
Photo: Jake Williams.
Reforesting Scotland
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
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Woodland shelter
review, which is expected to result in
some changes quite soon. Currently
though, erecting, extending and
altering a forestry-related building is
a permitted work provided it is NOT
(a) a dwelling and (b) within 25m of
a public, metalled road. However a
prior approval application has to be
made to the LA planning department
in order to verify that your proposal
does not require planning permission.
The LA may advise on colour or siting
but can only refuse if they find reason
to ‘call in’ the application (i.e.
where GPDO is deemed not to
apply).
So, in theory, any building in a
woodland or forest other than
a dwelling may be exempt from
full planning permission and a
wide variety of forestry-related
building types are achieved
legitimately under GPDO. But
before you let your imagination
go wild, building standards
apply to almost all building
types and this is where you
will encounter most difficulties in
constructing all but the simplest of
unserviced sheds. There are a very
small number of exemptions from
Scottish building standards and these
can be studied in section 0 of the
Technical Guidance. Sadly, the more
you look, the more you will discover
that your options are very limited
indeed.
Schedule 1 of Regulation 3 defines
the Exemptions to the Building
(Scotland) Regulations Act 2004. No.
8 is the most important to forestry
operations as it exempts “singlestorey detached building(s)” for all
forestry related purposes up to an
area of 280m2. Exceptions however
are “A dwelling, residential building,
office, canteen or visitor centre”.
So this would preclude any form of
sleeping accommodation though it
doesn’t specifically say it shouldn’t be
heated or serviced. But note all forms
of waste systems are controlled by
building regulations.
No. 13 grants exemption to any
detached and single storey building
under 8m2 but NOT if it includes
a fixed combustion appliance or
sanitary facility. Does this leave room
then for a very small ‘bothy’ or not?
Well, technically no, not if you are
going to sleep in it because that would
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Reforesting Scotland
make it ‘residential accommodation’,
which is an exception to the
exemption. So, under this exemption
you can build something at or under
8m2 that we might term a ‘forestry
day shelter’, provided that it has no
fixed heating or a toilet, either wet
or dry. You could provide a portable
gas heater or something powered
by a portable electrical generator or
solar panel, for instance. But that’s
about it. No wood-burning stove,
no bed. Rather a bleak bothy. So, to
the forest occupier, Exemption 13
doesn’t actually offer anything that
Exemption 8 doesn’t offer. That is to
say an equivalent building appears to
be exempted up to 280m2, a grand
bothy indeed – but not a ‘residential
building’, don’t forget.
There are exemptions for ‘Buildings
ancillary to houses’ (Types 17-19) but
unless you happen to have an already
existing house in your woodland then
these exemptions are irrelevant to
forest habitation.
Before you either give up that snug
bothy dream or decide to go down an
illegal route, you should take a look
at Exemption Type 12 – “A caravan
or mobile home within the meaning
of the Caravan Sites and Control of
Development Act 1960, or a tent, van
or shed within the meaning of section
73 of the Public Health (Scotland)
Act 1897.”
Keeping it mobile
The 1960 Caravan Act deals primarily
with touring caravans, statics and
residential park homes. A site for
up to five tourers can be permitted
by seeking the approval of an
organisation like the Caravan Club.
They ensure certain access, health
and safety guidelines are met, and
they make you one of their certified
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
locations. Otherwise planning is
required for a licensed caravan park
and conditions will control numbers,
landscaping, and opening times. The
site will be run under licence issued
by the local environmental health
department and they will supply a set
of rules covering densities, fire, refuse
disposal etc.
Crofters are allowed exemption for
three caravans for summer lets and
there is also exemption on land over 5
acres for a caravan to be sited for
up to 28 days in any 12 month
period. Of particular relevance,
however, is Clause 8 in Schedule
1 which states that “a site licence
shall not be required for the
use of land as a caravan site for
the accommodation during a
particular season of a person
or persons employed on land
in the same occupation, being
land used for the purposes of
forestry (including afforestation).”
Therefore, this would allow a
mobile home to be parked up in
woodland for some months at a time
to facilitate a felling, coppicing or
planting operation.
There are British Standards
determining how touring and static
caravans are built, but the units
themselves are exempt from planning
or warrant. Anything meeting the
criteria can be built on a park having
permission, however planning
conditions made in recent times
attempt to control the nature of what
is sited – for example by stipulating
wooden tents and not metal statics.
Whether your mobile home is
destined for seasonal occupation of
a woodland under Clause 8 above
or for a certified park, Standards
require it to be not more than 60ft
long, 20ft wide and 10ft high. It
must be capable of arriving on site
and being removed from site in one
or two pieces. It is difficult to get
anything wider than 12ft down the
highway hence the popularity of two
10ft sections. This has allowed chalets
with a low pitch roof to meet caravan
legislation. Whilst wheeled bogies are
used to get them onto the plot, these
are removed, and other chalets are
actually craned into place.
Other British Standards ensure
certain levels of insulation, dampness
Woodland shelter
Facing page: A simple shelter for a variety of uses.
Right: It can be difficult to get permission for simple
accomodation in woodlands. Photos: David Blair and
Karen Grant.
exclusion, escape provision etc. The
mobile unit has to be tied down
against uplift but foundations can
be very cheap and simple. There is
no limit on internal timber lining
as is the case with housing, allowing
more scope for woody interiors. It is
assumed that waste arrangements are
autonomous.
Implications for woodland life
So, in essence, the planning system
allows for forestry-related sheds
without much restriction on shape
or form (but watch boundary
restrictions), but building standards
are only exempt for single storey
buildings up to 280m2. In theory,
these could be insulated to Passivhaus
standards (requiring no space heating)
or extensively glazed, but could
NOT be used for sleeping or any
form of residential occupation. If you
require sanitary facilities of any kind
a building warrant will be required,
meaning you’ll need to embark on
full drawings and specifications with
all the cost that entails. Therefore, it
may be best to build such facilities in
a separate small building and submit
this for warrant with your drainage
proposals.
As there is no residential type class
in Scottish building standards other
than ‘house’, there is no option for
formal habitation but to follow the
full planning and building warrant
procedures. It is deeply regrettable
that there is no scope for a less
formal, less expensive, less materially
and spatially extravagant form of
living in Scotland than current
dwelling standards encourage. In a
global and even European context,
this constraint appears anomalous and
justifies challenge in our opinion.
Informal forest living only appears
possible with the invocation of the
mobile homes legislation which
has not in the past encouraged
particularly environmentally sound
forms of construction. There seems
little option for would-be forest
dwellers who do not want to live in a
formal house to push the boundaries
of this legislation inventively.
There is an increasing volume of
‘alternative’, ‘micro’ and ‘extreme’
It may be only a dream, but let’s hope that
someday building legislation will be sensitive
to bio-regional differences within Scotland,
facilitating both energy strategies and
construction material choices appropriate to
local climate and resources.
living literature available, and there
must be many versions of the timber
cabin on wheels yet to be devised. The
folding-out caravan has already been
pioneered and there is surely scope for
a contemporary timber ‘showman’s
caravan’ complete with wood burning
stove and solar power.
What the future holds
The desire to inhabit our growing
forests and develop new ways of
economically and ecologically
sustainable living with the land has
been recognised to some extent by
the Crofting Reform Act 2007 and
the National Forest Land Scheme.
However, neither of these specifically
address the theme of how we might
build more appropriately and
economically using the immediately
available forest resources and those
that we are planning to develop.
There is a real need to reduce the everincreasing material and cost burden
of planning and building legislation
that – whilst responding to energy
and climate change on the one hand
– simultaneously and ironically drives
up scale and ‘safety’ (and therefore costs
and material demands) in a completely
counter-productive trend. This deserves
a more vocal critique.
Perhaps Scotland’s forest dwellers
of the near future will be best
placed to make this challenge, and
to benefit from any changes that
can be achieved. In the first place,
a new building type class of ‘bothy’
could be enacted within the building
standards defined by changing and
ISSUE 43
informal habitation patterns, along
with modest scale and dependence
on renewable energies and some local
materials. This could help promote
and reward off-grid strategies, genuine
modesty of means and inventive
use of locally sourced materials in
construction – none of which are
currently promoted by either planning
or building standards legislation.
It may be only a dream, but let’s hope
that someday building legislation will
be sensitive to bio-regional differences
within Scotland, facilitating both
energy strategies and construction
material choices appropriate to local
climate and resources. It might even
differentiate between the material
and spatial living requirements and
aspirations of urban and suburban
populations, and that of rural
populations inhabiting a wide variety
of managed natural environments
who perhaps might be entrusted with
the critical role of defining new and
radical living relationships with a
changing world.
All legislation mentioned here may be
searched and viewed on the website at
www.legislation.gov.uk
Bernard Planterose of NorthWoods
Construction, based in Ullapool,
specialises in timber design and
build. Peter Caunt of Quercus Rural
Building Design, based in the Borders,
specialises in sustainable rural buildings
with an emphasis on timber. Websites
www.northwoodsdesign.co.uk and
www.quercusrbd.co.uk
Reforesting Scotland
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
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Woodland shelter
Instant huts
Timber is such a versatile material, it is an obvious choice for making shelters
for forest dwellers, campers, bird watchers, rural workers and even horses.
Here, architect Peter Caunt gives an overview of the ready-made huts on offer
in Scotland.
I
n back gardens, in fields, on
loch shores and not infrequently
in woodland, prefabricated
wooden shelters are becoming an
ever more popular choice. These
timber structures are manufactured,
delivered whole or as a kit, erected
with rudimentary foundations and,
if you wish, completed for you. Your
only responsibility is to pick up the
tab. Or you need not even buy your
own – with ‘glamping’ options on the
rise in Scotland, you can settle into a
camping hut just for the weekend.
The Garden Shed
The ubiquitous garden shed is a kit
formed with shiplap boarding on
Above: A Wolf Glen tipi. Right: Bird hide at Loch
Leven. Facing page, left to right: Yurt skeleton; Pod
and Wigwam camping huts. Photos: Peter Caunt and
featured manufacturers.
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Reforesting Scotland
lightweight studs, a similar floor and
roof panels, typically with a mineral
felt roof finish. Doors and fixed
plastic glazing are included, though
you should provide a foundation of
paving slabs and the elbow grease to
erect it. Cost from the likes of B&Q
can be less than £100/m2.
The Fishing Lodge
What do you want in a hut by the
river? If your bothy has a good
aspect, then why not have a canopy
covering your decked verandah?
DIY interlocking plank chalets
that cost around £350/m2 are
available, and larger suppliers of
summerhouses and cabins such
as Forestcraft can add bespoke
features.
www.forestcraft.co.uk
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
The Horse Shelter
Hardier breeds of horse can outwinter
with a proper coat but nonetheless a
roof over their heads and protection
from the wind makes their lives a
good deal more comfortable! With a
steel ground frame, the double shelter
purveyed by the likes of Redmire
Stables from Sussex can be dragged
around the field to the optimum
location. There are many options,
but typical construction will be
Woodland shelter
corrugated felt roofing, treated timber
studs with shiplap cladding and
hardwood ply internal linings. Cost
around £120/m2.
www.redmire.co.uk
The Bird Hide
If you want to disguise your presence
in the landscape, the birds are fooled
at least by these ubiquitous structures.
Gilleard Bros of Scunthorpe provide
these to the likes of the RSPB in
Scotland. Construction materials
are the same as the horse shelter,
indicating that they have done their
homework in terms of driving down
cost. Standard sections of imported
softwood timber, when treated against
rot, are difficult to beat. Cost around
£250/m2, bespoke options using our
own timber will cost a little more.
www.bird-hides.co.uk
The Gypsy Caravan
You can tow a caravan into a wood
and solve your accommodation
problems in an instant. In the
beginning there was a horse-drawn
timber version, like the original
1930s Gypsy vardo now parked up
and available for holiday let at the
Roulotte Retreat near Melrose.
www.canopyandstars.co.uk
The Tipi
By definition mobile and produced
from natural products of cotton
canvas and stripped pine, Wolf
Glen Tipis by Johny Morris and
Moy MacKay offer a magic shelter
to drag into the woods. Rugs on a
groundsheet make a comfortable
floor, or for a more comfortable bed,
sheepskin on a layer of reeds is a
possibility. They are designed to take a
central fireplace and the ridge smoke
flaps and perimeter liner control the
draughts and efficiency of the fire.
Cost for a 6.4m diameter tipi is £90/
m2, or they are available for hire.
www.wolfglentipis.co.uk
The Yurt
Traditional yurt design is brought
from Kyrgyzstan by the likes of
Paul Millard of Red Kite Yurts in
Stirlingshire. His yurts consist of
steam-bent Scottish ash,
oak, hazel, willow or maple
and range from 2.4m to
9.1m in diameter. The
lashed-together grid is
structurally very efficient.
Flame retardant canvas is
used instead of felt and
they are suitable for fitting
a wood stove. Cost for
6m diameter is £6,350
or around £220/m2... or
simply hire one.
www.redkiteyurts.com
their valuables. The arch frame is
2.7m wide, in the standard model,
and the special metal tiles provide
wall and roof; there is sheep wool
insulation behind the internal timber
linings. Sleeping up to four folk,
the french doors and wooden deck
mean you remain in touch with your
environment. The Pod is an attractive
interloper that we will be seeing more
of north of the Border. Cost to buy
is around £600/m2, or book a break
at one of five campsite locations in
Scotland.
www.thepoduk.co.uk
The Pod
The smallest camping huts
can be usefully described
as wooden tents, and The
Pod by Newfoundland
Lodges of Cumbria is a good
example. Jude and Ian are finding a
market where holiday sites can save
people the trouble of pitching a tent,
suffering the storm or worrying about
ISSUE 43
The Wigwam
Produced by Wigwam Cabins Ltd.,
this is a mobile wooden cabin in
2.7m or 3.4m widths. The larger
sleeps three to five people and can
Reforesting Scotland
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
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Woodland shelter
have light, a heater and a fridge.
Since 2000, this building has been
associated with Wigwam Holidays,
which currently promotes 40 sites
across the UK, from Shetland
to Cornwall, with 23 of them in
Scotland. Readers might be familiar
with the owner of the company,
Charles Gulland, who after a spell at
Hooke Park in Devon, developed his
ideas at Battleby with the Scottish
Countryside Commission. His
designs, developed over nearly 20
years, centre around a frame of freshly
bent conifer poles and steam-bent
larch, a cladding of feather-edged
Above left and right: The Hobbit; Pod Space home
office. Below: Interior of the Armadilla. Photos
courtesy of the manufacturers.
board from home-grown larch or
Douglas fir, lined-over insulation and
internal plasterboard finishing. Cost is
£5,000 to £7,000 or around £400/m2
not including furnishings. Or book a
break at one of 43 campsite locations
around the UK.
www.wigwamholidays.com
The Hobbit
A 2.4m diameter tube is the
inspiration for this timber-clad shelter
with a green ruberoid shingle roof.
The 4.9m-long microlodge will sleep
four and is built in Fife. It has all the
facilities of a modern caravan with
the exception of the loo, for which
they have thoughtfully designed an
outbuilding called the Wee Hobbit.
Another outbuilding, the Hobbit
Cascade, provides a shower. Perfect
for ‘glamping’, they are coming to
a site near you soon! Cost is around
£850/m2.
www.visionarymedia.co.uk
The Armadilla
This wooden tent is produced in
Midlothian by Archie Hunter. A
mobile building fully assembled from
wood sourced in the Scottish Borders,
its curvaceous shape is distinctly
animal-like. The most popular size
is 3m by 2.3m and will cost around
£900/m2.
www.armadilla.co.uk
The Home Office
A plethora of companies are in the
market to help you realise dreams
of working in a garden retreat; some
are sophisticated turn-key operations
where you only have to watch as a
p32
ISSUE 43
Reforesting Scotland
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
new office/studio is craned into your
back garden. One such is Pod Space
of Huddersfield, who are cheaper
than a house extension due to simple
foundations, factory prefabrication
and the elimination of wet trades.
The plan depth is 3.8m with typical
lengths of 4.6, 5.6 or 6.8m, giving
the areas within the permitted
development ceilings. With a flat roof
often covered in sedum, there are no
height issues either, and Pod Space
claims its super-insulation makes it
highly energy efficient. Cost is around
£1,000/m2.
www.pod-space.co.uk
The Mobile Home
Heartland is one of a number of
companies translating the caravan
legislation (see page 27) into timber
chalets that can be delivered in two
parts, giving a building 6.1m wide
by up to 18.3m long. At the bespoke
design end of the market, the chalets
are unique in being insulated for yearround occupancy, having underfloor
heating, air source heat pumps, solar
panels and untreated timber cladding.
Because this is essentially a house,
albeit a moveable one, the servicing is
more complicated with water, electric
and waste connections. These can be
provided on any site, but for locations
remote from the grid, viability may
demand that several units share the
expense. Cost is around £1333/m2.
www.quercusrbd.co.uk
To conclude...
The recurring theme here is that
there are plenty of mobile options,
becoming more difficult to move as
Woodland shelter
they get larger. Foundations can be
very simple and the site returned to
nature easily. Independent of size
comes the question of quality and
indeed sustainability. Using Scottish
wood and more durable species
is going to cost more than cheap
imported and treated softwood.
Using Scottish wool is going to cost
more than fibreglass wool insulation.
Having high performance windows
and doors is going to save energy at
higher first cost.
To be mobile simplifies planning
consent and building standards (see
article about legislation on page 27)
but if you are permitted or exempt,
there is no third party to persuade
you of the more sustainable, prettier
but more costly option. The choice is
yours, as is the moral responsibility
that goes with it!
Peter Caunt is an architect specialising
in sustainable buildings and is based
in the Scottish Borders. petercaunt@
lumison.co.uk
Bespoke mobile chalet by Heartland. Photo: Peter Caunt.
ISSUE 43
Reforesting Scotland
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
p33
artist in wood
David Grant
Round the world in a hut on wheels
Fi Martynoga meets a restless adventurer who, along with his family, spent seven years
travelling the world in a wooden caravan.
F
orget visual artists, for this
issue we are having a change!
The most interesting and
(appropriately) creative person I have
come across in the last few months
is a writer. He fits the bill for this
issue dedicated to hutting because
his first book describes the years he
spent living in a hut with his entire
family. It was a hut with a significant
difference, as it had wheels and was
drawn by a horse: a wooden caravan,
in fact. From 1990 to 1997, David
Grant and his family went round
the world in it and he chronicled
the journey in The Seven Year Hitch,
an account of an extraordinary trip
through Europe, Ukraine, Russia,
Kazakstan, Mongolia, China, Japan
and North America.
The notion of a long journey was
already with David when he spotted
a magazine advertisement for Gypsy
caravan holidays in Ireland. All
thoughts of old buses were set aside
as he began a process of trial and
investigation into how a horse-drawn
vehicle might serve them for the trek.
From conception to approximate
completion of the caravan took more
than two years. At least in retrospect,
David and his wife Kate saw this
p34
ISSUE 43
Reforesting Scotland
as fortunate because it gave their
children Torcuil, Eilidh and Fionn
time to grow up a little. By the time
they were ready to set off, they had
reached the ripe ages of ten, nine and
six respectively.
Where did such restlessness spring
from? David’s earlier career had
never been dull or settled. He had
already travelled the world, from
the most remote of Scottish islands
to Arctic Scandinavia, across most
of the western Sahara Desert and to
Australia. During that time he had
worked as a jackaroo, a sheep-shearer,
a fisherman, a member of a film crew,
an expedition leader, an ecologist (his
training – he was taught at Edinburgh
University by the famous Scottish
ecologist James Lockie) and as a
wildlife manager. Moreover, David
had at one time kept his own horse,
so when the family decided to set
off, he was well-equipped to lead the
expedition.
The caravan, although modelled on
a Gypsy vardo, was larger in floor
area, as it was rectangular rather
than bowed in towards the floor. The
design was intended to yield as much
space with as little weight as possible,
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
so the wooden walls and roof were
of light construction. Initially, every
person had a tiny personal space,
achieved by several partitions. Quite
quickly this layout was abandoned
in favour of an open plan with
canvas bunks for the children, as the
individual spaces shrank the shared
area too much.
This meant that David’s writing
space was the social one. He wrote
his daily journal, the essential source
of information for the book, right
there, near the wood stove in winter,
shoulder to shoulder with the others.
The children would be playing board
games or reading, and Kate working
on something as he wrote. “It was
useful having them there,” says David,
“They were able to remind me of the
best bits of the day and to give me
their own angle on events. I’m a lazy
writer, and it helped me to have this
discipline of recording. The children
saw to it that I made my entries
almost every single day.”
The diary behind The Seven Year
Hitch gives David’s writing a strong
sense of time and place. The countries
they passed through are presented as
much by the human encounters as by
artist in wood
straight description. So many of the
people they met showed themselves
to be generous. Cautious requests for
a field in which to turn loose Traceur,
their French horse, frequently
seemed to result in meals shared in
farmhouses scattered through many
countries. Even the poorest people
in Ukraine and Mongolia appeared
interested in the long-distance
journey and proffered hay or potatoes
or whatever they might be able to
spare. This was fortunate indeed for
the Grants, because they were making
their trip on a very tight budget. And
all was not plain sailing.
The first potential breaking point
was that Kate, who had felt in low
spirits from the start in September,
decided that she could no longer cope
with feeling ill and claustrophobic
in the caravan. She went home
from Avignon station just before
Christmas, only three months into
the trip. Although she came back
a few weeks later, she continued to
be dogged by ill-health, and had to
make repeated visits back to the UK.
Not too long after she left for the
first time, somewhere in Italy, Torcuil
developed acute appendicitis and had
to be rushed into hospital. Whilst
he was there, Eilidh broke her ankle.
Somehow, with the help of people they
had only just met, David succoured
all, and brought them back to the
caravan to continue the journey.
Worse travails were to greet them
in Mongolia, giving David weeks
of anxiety about a possible jail
sentence. By good fortune (or
timely negotiation!) it never happened,
saving him from some sort of living hell.
Mongolian jails have a very high death-rate.
Facing page: The caravan on a plain near Olgiy,
Mongolia. This page: David and the children on the
caravan in Italy; roadside ‘home’ schooling. Photos:
David Grant, Michele Cuttini.
All this is just to hint at the story. It
takes you through all the difficulties
of international borders, bureaucrats,
vets’ certificates for the horses and
dogs, winters setting in before rest
quarters could be found, absence
of stores, and all the literal hills to
be climbed – a real problem, even
for a strong horse like Traceur. Yet
the over-riding impression is not of
drudgery but of excited engagement
with people and places. “It was
probably the last moment we could
have carried it off,” says David.
“Bureaucracy and traffic have both
got much worse since then. It seems
like a different world. We first set eyes
on mobile phones in the hands of the
Chinese security police in 1995. And
email only became available when we
were halfway across the United States
the next year. It’s difficult to grasp the
changes that have happened since.”
The Grants finally achieved
Nova Scotia, always the intended
destination, in October 1997, 2,570
days and 12,360 miles after they had
started. From there they flew back to
Scotland and set up home in Angus,
from which Fionn finally went to
school. When assessed for entry, the
school pronounced him “the best we
have ever had”.
Just two years later, David was on the
move again. The new expedition was
a solo voyage in a folding kayak with
a small sail. He travelled from the
Baltic to the Black Sea, using the river
and canal systems, following one of
the less well-known of the routes used
by Viking traders and mercenaries.
Spirit of the Vikings charts new forms
of hardship and fresh struggles with
bureaucrats. On this journey he was
greatly helped by Baha’i communities
along the way, for during the troubled
ISSUE 43
times he had experienced in Mongolia
with the caravan, David had become
a member of the Baha’i Faith. In
Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine, he was
able to bring greetings and some good
publicity to Baha’i groups. In return
he benefited from their immense
hospitality and the wonderful way in
which they were so often able to find
free entry for him at lock gates, and
smooth his passage from one country
to another.
David, now a singleton in his cottage
high in the Angus hills, suspects he
may end up living in the caravan
again. “If times get as hard as it
appears they may, I could be reduced
to that, even though the cottage
itself is not much more than a shed.
But it does have room for books.
Storing them was always a problem
in the caravan. Our only permanent
volumes and main educational
resource for the children was the
World Book Encyclopaedia. Most other
books had to be passed on as soon
as they were read. There simply was
no space for them to accumulate.”
For all their unorthodox education,
those children are now practical, selfassured young people, either studying
or with jobs. The seven-year family
odyssey seems to have shaped them
well, and David himself has no regrets
about the experience.
Copies of The Seven Year Hitch (£7.99
plus p&p) and Spirit of the Vikings
(£14 plus p&p) by David Renwick
Grant can be obtained from the
author at [email protected]
or No 2 Balintore Cottage, Balintore,
Kirriemuir, Angus, DD8 5JS
Fi Martynoga is a freelance museum
researcher and writer from the Scottish
Borders.
Reforesting Scotland
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
p35
LETTER FROM ABROAD
A day in the life of a
Finnish summer house
The sauna by the lake. Photo: Tuula Pardoe.
M
y father, equipped with a
wide range of woodworking
and other skills needed to
build a timber-framed house, built
our summer house towards the end
of the 1960s with the help of friends.
The house was built on a piece of
land in a forest, bought from a local
farmer, on a slight hill meters away
from the shore of Lake Isojärvi on
the west coast of Finland. A good
number of pine, spruce, silver birche,
mountains ash, aspen and juniper had
to be cleared from the plot to make
way for the foundations of the house.
The house had a large, wood-panelled
living room, a small kitchen, two
bedrooms, a combined sauna and
wet-room, a changing room and a
veranda. Only candles, oil-burning
storm-lanterns and fire in the natural
stone fireplace of the living room
provided light in the late-evenings.
A brick-built wood-burning stove
and oven combination was used for
cooking. There was no running water
in the house, so bucketfuls were
carried from the lake for the sauna.
An outside composting toilet slightly
away from the house provided basic
toileting facilities. The thought of
coming across an elk or two on a
journey to the loo at dusk made such
visits nerve-wrecking.
With the car loaded with four
children, food, and all drinking
water in large canisters, we headed
an hour’s drive north for the summer
house and stayed there for a week or
two at a time. Although neighbours
in the forest were relatively few
and far between, one of the nearest
neighbouring families had two
daughters only a little older than the
four of us. Weather permitting, the
six of us spent hours out of doors.
Wellies were our summer footwear
for fear of coming across black adders
amongst the dense undergrowth of
the forest. We spent a lot of time
p36
ISSUE 43
Reforesting Scotland
Finnish-born Tuula Pardoe reflects on the long summer
holidays of her childhood, spent at the family’s forest cabin
with nature as a playground.
by the lake – swimming, fishing for
perch with hook and worms, and
exploring by rowing boat. We made
play-animals by pushing four twigs
into the green bulbous seed-heads
of yellow water-lilies and into pine
cones. We collected baby frogs for pets.
Large stone boulders scattered in the
forest by the receding Ice Age became
our fortresses and homes for roleplay; we pretended to cook plants
and other forest materials. We played
sports games, treasure hunts and hideand-seek. A large chest of old dresses
and lengths of material were put to
use for dressing up. We collected
blueberries to eat with the pancakes
our mum made. For wet-weather
pastimes, we competed against each
other in gymnastics, drew clothes for
paper dolls, played with and made
clothes for Barbie dolls, read books,
played board games, drew and painted.
During the day my father would
carry enough water from the lake
to fill up a large water-heater in the
sauna (pictured above right). In the
evening he then heated the sauna
stove and the water-heater ready
for bathing. We warmed ourselves
in the sauna and swam in the lake,
alternating the two for the best part
of an hour. Late in the evenings after
sauna, we sat in front of the crackling
fire in the candle-lit living room,
cooking sausages over the embers or
simply reading and listening to the
cries of red-throated divers and terns
out on the lake. Late at night, such
magic was often spoiled by rogue
mosquitoes trapped inside the house.
Just one tiny insect could keep us
all awake until someone managed to
hunt it down.
As the house didn’t have central
heating, my family used it mostly
in the summer. Over the winter it
required an occasional check for too
much heavy snow on the roof, storm
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
damage and the potential of theft
due to its isolated location. At the
start of the summer, the first heating
of the various fireplaces required
burning small amounts of newspaper
before a proper fire in order for the
house to become safely lived in again.
The house and its textiles had to
be thoroughly aired after the damp
months of the winter. Though my
parents were keen gardeners, they
were able to escape the need for
gardening at the summer house since
the land all around was untouched,
middle-aged forest. The forest around
provided opportunities for enjoying
many birds including woodpeckers,
chiffchaffs, chaffinches, greenfinches,
wrens, redstarts, willow warblers,
spotted flycatchers and redwings.
As with many people’s childhood, my
summers seemed very long all those
decades ago. Much of Finland closed
down for the month of July because
most working people took off four
weeks of their summer holiday in one
go. This meant my parents and us four
sisters could move out of our winter
dwelling and spend long stretches of
time in our summer house.
According to the official statistics, at
the end of 2009, there were 485,100
summer houses in Finland, a country
of just under 200,000 lakes and an
equal number of islands. There, a
summer house is classed as a residential
building that is permanently
constructed or erected on its site to be
used as a holiday or free-time dwelling.
In the 1970s, life in most Finnish
summer houses excluded practically
all the modern electric conveniences.
Many, if not most, summer houses are
now equipped for use year-round with
connections to mains water and electricity.
Tuula Pardoe is a conservator of
costume and textiles based in South
Queensferry. She grew up in Pori on the
west coast of Finland.
BOOK REVIEWS
Ugly truths of land ownership
The Poor Had No Lawyers – Who
Owns Scotland (and how they got
it), Andy Wightman. Birlinn, 2010.
ISBN 978 184158 907 7. £20.00.
Although the author doesn’t
once use that tired phrase, the
stark lesson from this immensely
detailed work is that possession
is nine tenths of the law, and the
glittering prizes went to those
who had the leisure to spot the
latest trend and the ingenuity
to harness it to their own best
interests. The biggest landowners
have for centuries been a step
ahead in the game, consolidating
their holdings and concurrently
laundering their image as they
morphed from medieval warlord
to pillar of society.
The involvement of the landed
classes in such seminal events
as the Reformation (starving the
Church of Scotland of its startup funds by appropriating most
of the property of the Catholic
Church) and the Covenanters
(pressurising the clergy into this
movement to avoid repossession
of the aforementioned lands by
the Restored Monarchy) displays
a cynical self interest that seems
startlingly modern for men in
tights and lace.
This book is so full of the results
of detailed research that all I can
do to give you a flavour of its
coverage is highlight the cases
that grabbed my interest. Since
the whole subject is of such
import it was difficult to choose.
For one with Skye connections,
the revelation that 23,000 acres
of the Cuillin range was put up
for sale by John McLeod when his
family had title to 1,600 acres at
the most is a gob smacker.
The myth that Queen Victoria fell
in love with the Balmoral Estate
and bought it is here unpicked.
The wise old bird first rented the
land, then in 1852 her consort
bought it. Conveniently, a
law was passed to prevent
this arrangement being
questioned, and in 1862 the
Crown Private Estates Act
enabled Victoria to inherit
it as private property, so it
would not become part of the
Crown Estates and be involved
in the Civil List calculations.
What was that bit about not
taking private advantage of
public office?
Closer in time and geography
is the example of Waverley
Market and whether or not
it forms part of Edinburgh’s
Common Good Land.
Since under proposed new
legislation the tenant stands
to become the owner of many
millions of pounds worth of real
estate in return for a handful
of chicken feed, how can the
council sit and let this happen,
whether it is the people’s land or
the council’s land?
The enormous amount of
detailed knowledge required
to become even acquainted
with this subject, never mind
expert, surely delays the
achievement of critical mass
awareness, without which I
fear real land reform will not
happen. This book is a great
contribution to the cause.
Sally Macpherson
ISSUE 43
Reforesting Scotland
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
p37
BOOK REVIEWS
Building and working in wood
where coppice woods are
dominated by sweet chestnut,
but this species doesn’t grow
well in northern Britain. He
also has a soft spot for the
black locust tree (Robinia
pseudoacacia) which he
lists among his top ten trees
despite having very limited
usage in the UK.
He doesn’t comment on the
qualities of home-grown
versus Canadian western red
cedar for shingles. When we
put up a green woodworking
shelter at Wooplaw
Community Woodland
recently, we were advised
that home-grown cedar isn’t
durable and that larch would
be better.
Roundwood Timber Framing –
Building Naturally Using Local
Resources, Ben Law. Permanent
Publications, 2010. ISBN 978 185623
041 4. £19.95.
I think I really could do it... build
my own roundwood framed house
with a lot of help from friends, some
good weather and Ben Law’s book
to consult. I reckon he’s succeeded,
turned a ham-fisted DIY enthusiast
into someone who feels he could build
a lasting structure out of wood, or at
least would like to try sometime.
Ben Law’s descriptions are unfussy
and unpretentious. He calls a Japanese
saw a Japanese saw. You can see
what he’s getting at and if you can’t,
he thoughtfully provides a photo
or sketch of the very bit you were
struggling to visualise. The book has
a nice chunky feel to it, with glossy
paper to shed the rain and show off
the multitude of clear illustrations.
And importantly, it sits open at the
page you are interested in.
Don’t read this book for woodland
management advice. Ben states that
coppice can sustain more people
per acre than any of the modern
forestry alternatives. I would agree
with this statement if only there
were markets for coppice products.
Maybe it’s different down in Sussex
p38
ISSUE 43
Reforesting Scotland
This isn’t a woodland
management book though, it’s a
manual for putting up beautiful,
functional roundwood framed
buildings. The tools section is very
engaging, really giving a feel for their
functional beauty. Old tools and new
tools, all fit for purpose, like those
Japanese saws.
The core of the book is the section on
construction, from simple foundations
to the final embellishments. This is
a tour de force, with
buildings growing
before your eyes. And
the completed houses,
especially his own
Woodland House as
featured on Channel
4’s Grand Designs, are
so gorgeous they’re
almost edible.
Donald McPhillimy
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SPRING/SUMMER 2011
Shedworking – The Alternative
Workplace Revolution, Alex Johnson.
Frances Lincoln, 2010. ISBN 978071123
082 8. £16.99.
This handsome and comprehensively
illustrated book sings the praises of
working in a small space. It springs
from a website www.shedworking.
co.uk which the author runs from
his own garden shed. He is keen to
promote home working, but is clear
that a home/office distinction is
necessary. In his opinion the garden
path provides just enough distance to
make working in a shed ideal.
Featured are buildings from demipalaces to huts. The most elaborate
sheds are architect-designed, employ
unsustainable materials such as
aluminium and plastic, and look
flashily urban. Even some of the
prefabricated, module-based sheds fall
into this category, with gimmicks such
as electronically controlled dimming
glass. Desirable as that may be for
a fully-glazed building, a smarter
design might utilise natural sunlight
without creating more dependence
on the outside world and clocking up
electricity bills.
At the other end of the scale there
are ramshackle and homely shelters.
Some are built entirely from recycled
BOOK REVIEWS
materials: windows, doors and
panels that came off scrap heaps.
By and large they look fit for
purpose but not pretty.
Among them are more
sympathetic structures
such as that of Chris
Routledge, writer and
editor of The Reader.
He built his own rustic
shed after attending a
course at the Centre for
Alternative Technology
in mid-Wales. He is
delighted with both the
building process and
with the result, which
he says now shapes
his writing. “That first
week, listening to
the rain pounding on
the roof I had made,
but not coming in, I
felt connected with
something very old
and very human. That
feeling is also there in
the process of writing
itself.”
Alex Johnson has
been thorough in
researching all shed
possibilities. This is a
wonderful source book if you want
to purchase someone else’s shed
design, or commission any shed from
a custom-built cob building to a
renovated shepherd’s hut on wheels.
If you don’t have such resources
at your disposal, then there is
still plenty to inspire. The shed
constructed on an old Ifor Williams
trailer to be both site-hut and
dwelling for someone renovating an
ancient building is a good example.
Having the shed mobile made its
construction off-site and its removal
to-site easy, and the owner was able
to side-step planning regulations.
As far as these are concerned,
there is a chapter that claims to be
‘Everything you need to know about
Planning Permission and Building
Regulations’. It applies to England,
but in Scotland you will have to do
your own homework. Constructing a
mobile shed seems like a wonderful
way round the problem (see page 27).
Fi Martynoga
Woodland life
Surges included activities of the 18th
and 19th century planting lairds, like
the Duke of Atholl, cultivating new
species discovered by plant explorers
like David Douglas. The great 20th
century surge was a response to
almost running out of timber during
the two World Wars. The Forestry
Commission (FC), set up in 1919 and
led by war hero Lord Lovat and the
bullish Australian Roy Robinson,
was tasked with buying land of little
use for agriculture; the early leaders
went along with this to prove how
commercial the new forestry could
be. It was bound to be commercially
viable when the average price paid
for plantable land was £1 15s 4d per
acre! Buying the first land happened
to coincide with a bad time for
landowners, with a quarter of Britain’s
land area changing hands between
1918 and 1922.
Woods & People – Putting Forests On
The Map, David Foot. The History Press,
2010, ISBN 987 07524 5278 4. £18.99.
Have you ever wondered why the UK
has ended up with such a dislocated
forest estate, pushed to the margins,
and an almost complete loss of forest
culture? This book tells you why. It
explains how some of the biggest
potential disasters, such as almost
running out of timber during both
World Wars, and the afforestation
of the Flow Country, were narrowly
averted.
David Foot, a former Forestry
Commissioner and trustee of the
Woodland Trust, has produced a
lucid account of the last 200 years of
forests in this country. The history of
our forests is very different to those of
our European neighbours. There have
been retreats and surges: retreats due
to the flood of cheap imports, the
two World Wars and the agricultural
revolution that followed. During
WW2, 46% of the UK’s forests were
felled to supply 75% of consumption,
as imports were cut off.
ISSUE 43
After WW2, the FC was asked to
redouble its efforts – its trees had
been too young to contribute much
during the war. Chancellor of the
Exchequer Hugh Dalton asked
Robinson, still FC chair: “What is the
largest sum you could efficiently
spend over the next five years?”
Robinson asked for and got £20
million. In return he gave Dalton an
FC tie.
The evolution of forestry from the
building up of a timber resource to
its current multiple objective status
is clearly laid out in a very readable
way. Reforesting Scotland even gets a
mention near the end – described as
campaigning for a new forest culture
and punching well above its weight. I
think this is a compliment. And here’s
a compliment for the book: it is a
good read, and an essential one if you
want to understand how we came to have
the forests and forestry we have today.
Donald McPhillimy
SPECIAL OFFER
For members of tree and forestry
bodies: £14.99 (includes free p&p)
until 30 April 2011. Quote offer
code ‘HPWoods’. Buy online at www.
thehistorypress.co.uk or call Marston
Book Services, tel. 01235 465577.
Reforesting Scotland
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
p39
Dates for your diary
Dates for your diary
Regular events
The following organisations run
events throughout the year:
BTCV Scotland. Wide range
of volunteer activities and
environmental training courses.
There are 16 Green Gyms
throughout Scotland. Contact
Helen Paul, tel. 01786 479 697,
email [email protected].
uk or see www.btcv.org/scotland
Oatridge College offers courses in livestock care. Photo: Karen Grant
Carrifran Wildwood, Moffatdale.
Volunteer days every third Sunday
of the month except July, August,
December. Meet 10am at Carrifran
car park on A708 Moffat to Selkirk
road. No need to book; bring
weatherproof clothing, boots and
packed lunch; be prepared for a
fairly strenuous day. Information
from George Moffat, email
[email protected],
tel. 01835 830 750, mobile 07939
784 387 or www.carrifran.org.uk
Falkland Centre for Stewardship.
Events planned for 2011 include
Woodland Summit, Introduction
to Green Woodworking, Basket
Making, Bush Craft, talks,
children’s workshops, Summer and
Autumn Schools. Dates known at
time of going to press are listed
below. For information about
others, tel. 01337 858 838 or see
www.centreforstewardship.org.uk
Four Winds Inspiration Centre.
This wonderful centre has sadly
come to the end of its lease at
Inverleith Park. Carole Fraser is
now out on location, offering craft
classes and training.
www.four-winds.org.uk
John Muir Trust. Free
Conservation Work Parties of
1 to 7 days on JMT properties
and those of partners, March to
October. Contact Sandy Maxwell,
tel. 0141 576 6663, email
[email protected]
or see www.jmt.org/activitiesconservation-work-parties.asp
p40
ISSUE 43
Reforesting Scotland
Oatridge College, West Lothian.
Several short courses offered, from
chainsaw and machinery operation
to blacksmithing and livestock
care. Some provide a qualification,
and may attract ILA support
(check your eligibility at www.
ilascotland.org.uk). Tel. 01506 864
807 or see www.oatridge.ac.uk/
short_courses
Scottish Native Woods meet on
the first Sunday of every month,
10am to 4pm, to restore and
expand native woodlands. Tools,
training and safety equipment
provided. Contact Chris Childe,
tel. 01337 832 619, email chris.
[email protected].
uk or see
www.scottishnativewoods.org.uk
Trees for Life. Volunteer Work
Weeks in the Scottish Highlands,
many dates from March to
September. Work includes planting
trees, felling non-native trees, tree
nursery work, wetland restoration,
collecting seeds and berries, stock
fencing and tree guards, tree
fertilising. Tel. 0845 602 7386 or
see www.treesforlife.org.uk
March
17: Scotland’s Independent
Regeneration Network Annual
Conference entitled ‘Supporting
Community Resilience’. Roxburghe
Hotel, Edinburgh. Tel. 0141 585
6879 or email derek@scotregen.
co.uk
20: Carrifran’s first tree planting
day of the year. See above for
joining details, and if you would
like to spend a Wednesday
working in the Devil’s Beef Tub,
contact ed@bordersforesttrust.
org for more information or see
www.bordersforesttrust.org
20: South West Community
Woodlands Trust. Get involved
with Orchards and Wild Harvest,
a local project supported entirely
from public donation and the
donation of trees for local
community areas. Contact project
co-ordinator Jools Cox on 01556
503 649 or [email protected]
29 – 31 May: Dog Agility
classes (fitness for you and the
pooch) with Oatridge College
and Broxburn Dog Training Club.
Tuesdays 5.45-6.45pm. Tel. 01506
864800 or email info@oatridge.
ac.uk
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
April
9 – 10: Pig Weekend – make a
willow pig for the garden. West
Moss-side, Thornhill, Stirling, FK8
3QJ. Price £130 plus materials.
Tutor: Anthea Naylor. Contact Kate
Sankey on tel. 01786 850428 or
[email protected], special
rates to stay in the new Trossachs
Yurts. Details of more inspiring
craft courses at
www.westmossside.com
13 – 14: Institute of Chartered
Foresters National Conference
entitled ‘Trees, People and the Built
Environment’, in Birmingham.
Groundbreaking and highly
relevant research from both the
natural and social sciences will
be presented. Call Allison Lock
on 0131 240 1425 or see www.
charteredforesters.org/conference
16: Ceilidh Collective Spring
Ceilidh supporting Redhall Walled
Garden at the Rudolf Steiner
School, 60 Spylaw Rd, Edinburgh,
EH10 5BR, 7pm - midnight. Tickets
are £10, £6.50 (conc.) or £3.50
(under-12) available from www.
thebooth.co.uk
22 – 24: South West Community
Woodlands Easter Festival, Taliesin.
Wood Carving with Richard Jones,
Basket Making with Trevor Leat,
kids’ Easter egg activities, wild
food foray and Japanese knotweed
fest. Courses £120 for 3 days or
£45 per day. Contact Jools Cox on
01556 503 649, email joolscox@
tiscali.co.uk, or see www.swcwt.org
Sustainable Scotland Network –
for details of their April Quarterly
meeting see www.sustainablescotland.net
May
6 – 8: Tanera Mòr, Summer Isles.
Flora, fauna and foraging with Viv
Halcrow. £180 full board including
transport from Badentarbet Pier.
Contact [email protected],
tel. 01854 622 252 or see www.
summer-isles.com
6 – 8: Arduaine Spring Festival,
NTS Arduaine House, Argyll.
Weekend programme of talks,
garden tours and gourmet dining,
booking essential. Open to public
on afternoon of 8th with craft
demonstrations, stalls and music.
See www.nts.org.uk/Events/
Detail/525
Dates for your diary
27 – 30: JMT conservation work
party to Li & Coire Dhorrcail
(Knoydart). Fence removal, path
works and beach cleaning, see
above for contacts. This involves
walk in and wild camping. See
above for contact information.
August
June
15 – 19: Falkland Centre for
Stewardship. Hut Building –
training in the art of hut building
using only local wood. Email
[email protected]
to register interest and for further
details.
Sustainable Scotland Network –
for details of their June Quarterly
meeting see www.sustainablescotland.net
31 May – 4 June: Falkland
Centre for Stewardship. Field of
Vision – a rites of passage fiveday Summer School exploring
the hows and whys of ceremony
and celebration in a practical and
experiential way. £295-£350. See
above for contact details.
July
9: Enjoy the roses at National
Trust for Scotland’s Drum Castle,
7-8pm. Advance booking essential,
tel. 0844 4932161.
10 – 23: BTCV conservation
holiday to Iceland, building and
repairing mountain paths in
Vatnajökull National Park. Other
dates and venues available,
tel. 01302 388 883 or email
[email protected]
£535 covers accommodation
and materials. Contact katy@
galvelmore.co.uk, tel. 01764
655721 or see www.galvelmore.
co.uk/event8.htm
5 – 8: JMT Conservation
Work Party at Strathaird, Skye.
Woodland, beach cleaning and
general tasks. See above for
contact information.
September
2 – 9: Tanera Mòr, Summer Isles.
Creative Retreat with Mandy
Haggith. £525 full board including
transport from Badentarbet Pier.
Email [email protected],
tel. 01854 622 252 or see www.
summer-isles.com
11 – 17: Tanera Mòr, Summer
Isles. Flora, fauna and foraging
with Viv Halcrow. £180 full
board including transport from
Badentarbet Pier. Contact lizzie@
summer-isles.com, tel. 01854 622
252 or see www.summer-isles.com
19 – 23: Galvelmore House,
Crieff. Residential course ‘Words
from the Woods’ with Jan
Kilpatrick. Write, make and bind
your own journal of the week.
In August Falkland Centre for Stewardship will run a course in
hut building. Photo: Karen Grant
List an event!
To submit events or organisations
for listing on this page, contact
us on tel. 0131 220 2500, email
[email protected]
or post to Reforesting Scotland, 58
Shandwick Place, Edinburgh, EH2
4RT. The next issue will cover dates
from mid-September to March 2012.
Logging on to... huts
T
here is a wealth of material
about huts on the internet,
for casual browsing or more
specific searching. For once I
decided not to narrow the search,
but to put ‘huts’ into most of the
options offered by Google.
If you’re looking at news about
huts, you quickly learn that huts
aren’t always happy places. Where
crowds of people live in huts, fire
hazard comes with the territory.
More cheerful is the news that
huts built by a church group
for residents of the Tent City in
Lakewood, New Jersey, enabled all
the unemployed who live there to
survive the winter blizzards.
Google Maps will show
you mountain and walking
routes all over the world with
huts providing shelter and
refreshment, and on You Tube
you can watch the first ever
(1965) TV commercial for... Pizza
Hut! Google Images displays
everything from bathing huts in
sleepy seaside towns now going
for massive prices, luxury hutted
accommodation on those notquite-back-to-nature holidays,
the straw huts of the floating
Uros islands on Lake Titicaca,
stone-built beehive huts for
Irish monks, refugee huts near
Beledwyne in Somalia, slave huts
on Bonaire in the Caribbean and
the more recent barrack huts at
Auschwitz.
Closer to home, the page Huts &
Cabins in Scotland on the social
networking site Facebook, www.
facebook.com/pages/Huts-Cabinsin-Scotland/164760157794,
offers a good overview of all
manner of camping huts and
cabins available for hire in
Scotland, from traditional fishing
böds in Shetland to a luxury,
naturist friendly wooden chalet in
Galloway.
ISSUE 43
Sally Macpherson
Reforesting Scotland
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
p41
Last Word
The campaign for a Thousand Huts
Overwhelming interest from many quarters, not least Reforesting
Scotland’s membership, has indicated tremendous support for a
resurgence of hut-building in Scotland. In response, RS is launching
its campaign for a Thousand Huts, as Ninian Stuart explains.
R
eforesting Scotland’s new
campaign for a Thousand
Huts will celebrate and
encourage hut building in
Scotland. Coordinated by land
rights campaigner Andy Wightman
alongside RS members and
directors, a Thousand Huts hopes
to inspire people with the simple
beauty and usefulness of huts,
Illustration by Alastair Biard
and seed the idea of a thousand
more at this time of transition.
It will hopefully highlight the
value of huts built in and from
Scottish woods, and the need to
overcome the main obstacles to
building more of them, addressing
both planning law and lack of
opportunities to own or rent land
in rural Scotland.
The campaign will see RS
collaborating with its members,
local community groups and key
organisations such as the Scottish
Ecological Design Association,
Community Woodland Association
and Mountain Bothies Association
to encourage and facilitate more
local hut building using timber
from Scottish woods.
If our campaign is successful, we
believe that a thousand huts will
flourish in Scotland...
• allowing more people to
reconnect with the natural world
• inspiring ordinary people to
learn the craft of building
• providing refuge from speed and
noise
• creating simple and beautiful
p42
ISSUE 43
Reforesting Scotland
places to dwell in the forest
• supporting the aspiration for
simplicity and self-reliance
• giving space for thought and
freedom from thought
• bringing a deeper acquaintance
with silence and darkness.
Ten things you can do:
1. Discover huts. Open your eyes
and heart to huts. Whether in a
wood or town, see what people
have built: garden huts, beach
huts, hidden huts, fancy huts and
old ramshackle huts. Take photos
or sketches and email us anything
special. We’re keen to enjoy and
share the diversity of Scotland’s
huts and be inspired by huts
beyond our borders.
2. Build a hut. Something you
will never regret. It is one of the
most constructive things you can
do, especially using local wood.
If you’re not very practical, find a
skilled person to advise you. You
may contact some of those whose
stories we tell in this edition, or
join a course.
3. Spend time in a hut. Go there
regularly to slow down and get
away from noise, clutter and
busyness. A simple place to focus
on what really matters. If you can’t
find a real hut, you may need to
make do with a hut-in-your-mind.
Or rent one for a few days.
4. Discover a hut site. We know
of hutters’ sites and communities
at Carbeth near Glasgow, Clouch
in Gourock, Soonhope and
Eddlestone near Peebles, Lunga
Estate in Argyll and Rascarrel Bay
and Carrick on the Galloway coast.
These are the remnants of a much
wider Scottish hutting tradition.
Many are still threatened. All need
our support. Please let us know if
you know of others.
5. Create a hut site. If you are
(or know of) someone who owns
land and may be interested in
making land available, we are keen
to hear from you. And we will put
SPRING/SUMMER 2011
you in touch with other interested
farmers and landowners who are
considering this.
6. Tell a great hut story. We’re
keen to learn and tell the story of
Scotland’s huts and hutters. From
the Carbeth clearances to the
building of great huts and even
great hut-building disasters. Please
let us know if you have stories to
tell or if you get a sniff of a story
that one of our roving reporters
can follow up.
7. Lay foundations for future
huts. A Thousand Huts urgently
seeks help from dynamic social
entrepreneurs, skilled builders and
ardent micro-living campaigners
to help build our dream. Let us
know if you can help here.
8. Attend RS’s great celebration
of forest culture and launch of
a Thousand Huts being planned
for June (date to be confirmed
shortly).
9. Take part in Reforesting
Scotland’s hut-building
summer school in partnership
with Falkland Centre for
Stewardship (provisional date
15 – 19 August 2011). See www.
centreforstewardship.org.uk for
more information.
10. Join our hut circle. If you
are keen to contribute to the
campaign, receive occasional
briefings and be amongst
the first to hear of what’s
happening in the campaign for a
Thousand Huts, email to huts@
reforestingscotland.org
And three things to remember (if
you forget everything else!):
• Spend time in a hut
• Build a hut from local wood
• Join the movement for a
Thousand Huts.
Ninian Stuart is co-founder of
Falkland Centre for Stewardship
and is a Director of Reforesting
Scotland. Email ninian@
centreforstewardship.org.uk