…such as this little number which is a tipper for bulk loads as well as having a hoist to lift in bulk bags. As you can see, it’s just perfect for getting into tight spaces when delivering firewood.
Category: fencing
Latest statistics on UK forestry and sawmilling
The latest National Statistics on forestry produced by the Forestry Commission were released recently in line with arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority. They include information on woodland area, planting, timber, trade, carbon, environment, social, employment and finance & prices as well as some statistics on international forestry. Where possible, figures are also provided… Read more »
Sound sense in West Yorkshire
This impressive load is part of an order bound for West Yorkshire to create an acoustic barrier round a distribution hub being built close to a residential area. Planning authorities, whilst keen to encourage economic development, are becoming increasingly aware of the impact of noise from commercial activities on nearby residents. This has led to… Read more »
3 nations timber – and a pat on the back
Here’s a sight for sore eyes: a full load of Welsh Larch that has been cut at our sawmill in England ready for delivery to a customer in Scotland. Talk about Great British Timber! On the subject of delivery, it was really good to receive this feedback from a customer in Somerset yesterday: “We just… Read more »
We’re in Building Design and Construction Magazine
There’s an extensive profile of our company in this month’s Building Design and Construction Magazine The article focusses on the sustainability of timber as a raw material the advanced processes at our sawmill including our state of the art timber treatment centre the lead we’ve taken in the supply of acoustic fencing panels Specifiers are… Read more »
Bishop’s Castle timber for a Bishop’s Castle school
Bishop’s Castle Community College is one of our home town’s most important assets and one which as a business we’ve been pleased to support over the years. Many of the team who work at the Mill attended the school, as have their children and in some cases grandchildren. We were especially pleased to help… Read more »
Many hands make light work
One of the benefits of being a family owned business is that we can be more flexible when it’s needed – especially when it comes to helping out one of the many local businesses we depend on to make our business work. Take last night when a late running wagon came into the yard with… Read more »
Ransfords from the air
One of things that visitors coming to the sawmill for the first time comment on is the sheer buzz of the place: there’s always something going on as the we take logs in, process them, and then send the finished timber products on their way. One important feature of that process is that nothing in… Read more »
Even more (solar) power to our elbow!
Here’s a dramatic picture to start the week with. It’s taken on the roof of our Timber Treatment Centre where we are installing solar panels to add to the 2000 panels already installed on various buildings at our mill. The energy generated is used to power the mill. This means that the same solar energy… Read more »
A sight to gladden any mill worker’s heart
We joke in our sawmill that what we do is best summed up as taking round logs in and cutting them up to send square bits of timber out. Doing so efficiently and using the best equipment available lets us take huge pride in what is an essentially straightforward process. Making sure that none of… Read more »
When the cobbler’s busy…
…his childrens’ shoes have holes in them. It’s the same for us with fencing: we’ve been so busy making acoustic fencing panels for customers that it has taken us literally weeks to finally get round to making and installing the final section of fencing round our new Timber Treatment Centre. The fencing is designed to… Read more »
Keeping the family busy during lockdown: Ransfords style
These two members of the Evans family (owners of the sawmill) normally work at sister business Mellington Hall Hotel and Holiday Home Park. Alex came in for a day to cover holidays helping out at an extremely busy sawmill with some fork lift driving (for which he is fully trained) whilst his younger brother Sam… Read more »
Within sight of our sawmill and home town
Here’s another sight to lift the spirits. It’s taken at Bury Ditches, home to one of the best-preserved hill forts in the country which dates from around 500BC. It’s located within sight of the mill, deep in the beautiful Shropshire hills. Bishop’s Castle and the Mill are at bottom left, then following the hills round… Read more »
The new chip store is working exactly as it’s designed to
In order to better manage the peaks and troughs in demand for woodchips we’ve constructed a new store here at our mill in Bishop’s Castle. These two pictures show it in operation with a chipper outside working on undersized logs and feeding chips into the store. You can see the operation in a video clip… Read more »
Lovely morning, lovely load!
Maybe we should get out more but some days just start perfectly: a cracking, bright frosty morning here in Bishop’s Castle and a trailer load of treated timber ready to leave us for the customer. What more could anyone ask for?
Air dried Larch
Here’s another benefit to increased storage capacity at our mill: 3.6m larch boards kept in the dry ready and waiting for swift delivery. Larch of course is incredibly durable and has become very popular for use as cladding as well as being a traditional material for fencing. Delivered in bundles of 160, there’s plenty more… Read more »
All chip-shape and Bristol fashion
It’s a process of constant improvement here at Ranfords both in how we mill and treat the timber and how we make certain that we get the most value out of every bit iof timber we handle. This newly completed chip store (complete with Great Brtish Timber Yorkshire Boarding) means we can store more material… Read more »
Keeping the noise down for the neighbours
Our business is in a small town which has grown and spread in recent years so that houses now stand quite close to the sawmill (which has been here for well over 100 years!) in what once were fields. We are keen to minimise the impact of our activites on our neighbours so, the new… Read more »
It’s that time of year again!
Our home town of Bishop’s Castle is a small and close-knit community in Shropshire close to the border with Wales. It’s the sort of place which still has a kind of unwritten seasonal calendar on which, of course, Christmas features prominently. So, the picture shows one of the first acts in the Town’s preparations as… Read more »
We’re making good progress on the new chip store
We’ve had more than our share of downpours here recently but enough dry weather to be able to crack on with our new chip store. The roof is half on and the wall panels are all in. Next we need to put some Yorkshire Boarding on. Good job we know a good sawmill producing Great… Read more »