Patrick, a member of Friends of the Earth Scotland continuously since 1984, age 16, has always had a passion for the environment, long before green issues came to the fore in our current society and box ticking keywords such as sustainability, eco-friendly, low miles and environmentally aware became part of public parlance.  You can be assured that all the wood for sale at Lanarkshire Hardwoods has come from sources where the highest standards of ethics are being maintained. See WOOD PROVENANCE .

Lanarkshire Hardwoods is a founding member of www.scottishworkingwoods.org.uk , an organisation dedicated to supporting woodland products made in Scotland by businesses based in Scotland from woodland materials harvested from Scottish trees and woodlands.

‘Low wood miles’ :you have heard of low food miles but by supporting small rural based timber businesses like Lanarkshire Hardwoods you are helping reduce the volume of timber imported unnecessarily from abroad or from the world’s tropical rainforests.  We call this low wood miles.

bringing home a big oak from the Clyde Valley, Lanarkshire

What else are we doing to help the environment here at Lanarkshire Hardwoods?

Our Wood Boiler

The house and premises here at Girdwoodend have always been heated from our own wood residue (the green boffins don’t let us call it waste anymore) using various open fires and wood or shavings burners.  In 2007,  with the help of a generous Scottish Biomass Support Scheme grant,  a super efficient 100KW Kob Biomass Boiler was installed ; this burns all the offcuts,  slabwood from the sawmill, floor sweepings and any burnable wood based rubbish to provide heat for the workshop building,  the office and Patrick & Rachael’s adjacent home.  In time we hope to connect up the wood shop as well.

Briquette machine

We also have had a briquette making machine for some years which can turn all the dry wood shavings from the wood planing process into very efficient fuel for the boiler.

Girdwoodend Woodland Planting

Patrick has planted well over 10000 trees on the 10 acres of old farmland at Girdwoodend,  mostly in the early nineties.  These trees,  a blend of British native broadleaf and conifer species such as oak, ash, gean, birch, rowan, willow, alder, juniper, hazel, whitebeam, hawthorn, blackthorn, holly and Scots Pine, are now forming a fine backdrop to the property and giving much needed shelter.  A vast increase in wildlife of all kinds has been observed since the land use changed from sheep and cattle grazings to native woodland.  A network of mown paths winds lazily around the woods for about a mile;  visitors are most welcome to take a walk,  wellies or similar are advised after spells of wet weather.