LAST CHARCOAL BURNERS.

Hokitika Guardian, 4 November 1925, Page 2

LAST CHARCOAL BURNERS.

For more than lUOO years charcoal burning lias been an industry • the New Forest, in Hampshire. One by one the old lorest families who plied this ancient trade have passed away, and the skill to burn tho wood has been 10-t. The tmt.’i Who claims to he the la.-i still actually engaged ‘s Fred .Maurice Cull, the descendant of it long line. In a clearing in the deep wood-, he lives and sleeps—his home a little wheeled labiit To the place where he burns, he moves, taking the implements of hi- trade with him. For the la-1 oi yeai*s lie lias been ehareoalnuikiim in the wo,uts ol" Kur/.y l.awn, near l.yndititr.s'. tinseen by the thousands of motorists who pa-- !*v 7,00 yards away. Talking to ti " Daily Mail " reporter. Air Cull said that he was the only one in the country who burnt in exactly the same way a- limy did m the days Hi W'llinni the < onqiieior. Ihe knowledge and sklij mt'.o Uvo hiindc I down front father to son. and eatlfiot he taught. Others have tried, especially during the war. when there was a great demand for charcoal, hut have given it up. The charcoal hurtling is done in a shallow pit 10 yards in diameter. The wood is cut and piled into small stacks, each stick heilig about Ift long. The Crown providethe wood, hut .Mr Cull has to buy it. and when he lias burned the quantity in one place the Crown tells him where there i- another lot ready for him. He burns about two tons at a time, and the operation takes three to four da vs.

The logs are stacked together in a circle leaning inwards and covered with bracken, tufts of grass and litter, tt is set alight from the top. a small piece of lighted wood being thrust into the centre. It then burns downwards, nnd the skill lies in producing charcoal without breaking it into pieces. Water is sprinkled oil the pile from time to time, and although there is a great heat actual flatties are kept under until the- end of the burning. Ships are supplied with charcoal for filtering water and for cooking. Aft* Cull has installed a wireless set in his cabin, using trees to carry the aerial.