Pictorial
history of the Sharp family in Forestry
This
page is dedicated to my late grandfather, George Alick Sharp, Head
Forester.
In
the early 1950's, Grandad transferred from Kershope forest on the
Scottish borders to the York area. At Wheldrake nursery he began the
development of a lining out plough to mechanize the labour
intensive job of replanting young trees. The photo above was taken by
the official photographer of the Forestry Commission in 1955. In 1958,
a crew of 14 achieved the incredible figure of planting 132,000 trees
in one day using this plough. The foreman was George Bielby and the
tractor driver was Norman Daniels - driving a Ferguson tractor. My
father Alick Miles, at 16 years old, was part of that crew.
Westtec's
owner/operator, James Allen Sharp - the first venture into felling and extraction circa
1985. The experience gained using quad extraction was the catalyst for
the modern operation of hand felling and extraction with Botex trailer
allowing for small to medium estates to be serviced. Good road
mobility allows small parcels to be taken on and light weight
machinery means less damage to sensitive terrains.
The Great
Yorkshire Show - mid 1970's
The show
consisted of a Forestry section where a chainsaw skill competition was
held to determine who was the most skilled operator.
The
picture above shows George Alick (Grandfather); George Raymond (uncle)
and Dennis Allen (Uncle) attending the show in readiness for the
competition. Early Husqvarna chainsaws can also be seen in the
picture.
Raymond
has just completed the tree felling discipline. A regulation size gob
had to be cut into the front of the tree and a back cut made.
Measurement were taken to determine gob size, backcut height in
relation to the gob and also how level the backcut was.
When
Grandad retired from the Forestry Commission he joined the family
business of Sharp Brothers (Timber). Here he can be seen participating
in the event. This discipline required the operator to bore through
the centre of the log, make a cut from the bottom to the centre bore
and then make a third cut from the top to the centre bore.
Measurements were then taken to determine any discrepancies in the
three cuts. I believe that Grandad got best newcomer award at his
first attempt.
The
highlight of the competition was the speed cutting and was usually won
by either Uncle Raymond or Allen - as indeed the whole competition
itself was won by one or the other and became known as the Sharps
Benefit competition. One year, Raymond felt the competition was maybe
a bit stiffer in the speed cutting so he quietly remove the silencer
to give his saw that extra punch - it drew in the crowds!!! Another
year he especially prepared a huge Dolmar and kept it hidden under a
blanket until the very last moment. He won it!
Notice
that although a helmet and ear protectors were obligatory, there
was no requirement for gloves nor were there any protective, chain
retardant trousers available at this time. Chainsaws still did not
have a 'kickback brake'. Uncle Raymond was the first person to develop
anti-vibration handles for chainsaws (see below) and he was also the first person
to develop a heated chainsaw handle using the exhaust gases of the saw
- a great benefit in winter and still not fitted to modern chainsaws.
My
brother, Matthew Alick. A skilled chainsaw operator but more skillful
operating hydraulic cranes and machinery. This picture probably taken
in the late 1980's at Sharp's sawmill, Melbourne nr York. Matthew and
his wife now run their own business felling with a harvester and
forwarding with an 8 wheel drive forwarder.
The
Miner's strike and aftermath for small business in Yorkshire area.
Sharp Bros
(Timber) finally settled in Melbourne, York after many years moving
from site to site ranging from the Scottish Borders down to
Nottinghamshire. They had purchased a Forestor 150 horizontal bandmill
which was soon converted from a mobile unit to a static at the new
location. Uncle Raymond's daughter, Susan is shown above. She spent
quite a few years operating the 150 at this new site.
Christmas
1984
Malcolm's
unenviable task was to keep the grandchildren in line and hard at it!
Mainly thanks to him they all 'cut their teeth' safely in the business
of sawmilling. Malcolm was a black belt in Judo and a finer person
would be hard to meet.
The predecessor
to the 150 was this rack bench driven through a PTO by a Ford 5000
tractor. It started as a push bench and was later converted to a
hydraulic feed and was designed and built specifically by Uncle
Raymond to cut 4 foot lengths of mining timber. This and the double
slabber he built were the keystones to the mining timber operation
during these mobile years. The operators in the above photo are Robin
Matthews (brother in law of my father) and Derek Rawnsley, a long time
friend and colleague of Uncle Allen.
The main
operator of the saw was Malcolm Flintoft who would stay with Sharps
until his retirement. As I remember it, the blade was an 8 gauge, 48
inch diameter, inserted tooth, Pacific Ho. This American made blade
proved to be the most reliable blade for the job. Uncle Raymond had to
good fortune to get in contact with A.E.Coles of Bridgewater, Somerset
who told him that these Pacific Ho blades were made from ore
containing a very high sulphur content and were ideal for the purpose.
Coles told him that they knew of a Pacific Ho blade that was used
daily and had been used continuously for the LAST 30 YEARS. Some
testament! It was sharpened
twice a day, mainly by my Uncle Allen.
The
Bunging Machine
None of
the family seems to have any photographs of this incredible machine -
but it certainly merits a mention here. "Bungs" were a
product made from mainly Sycamore and Birch for the British Bung
Factory in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Basically a round log was
crosscut into a disc, 1 and 7/8" thick. In the early years, a
single blade saw was used, with the fence set to 1 and 7/8" and
the log had to be pushed against the fence after each cut. This was a
painfully slow task and was also quite risky as the log, being
circular, had the habit of spinning especially if the log was wet!
Uncle Raymond decided that he had had enough of this and made a
machine especially for the job. It was driven by two Ford 5000
tractors through two PTO shafts. One of the tractors supplied the
hydraulics for the ram that would slide the bed into the blades and
then reverse and bring the bed back again. There were 11 in number,
30", 9 gauge blades set 1 and 7/8" apart running on a single
shaft. A 24" log would be placed on the serrated bed and, as the
feed was started, 10 serrated fingers would drop onto the log between
each blade holding it firmly in place until the bed was returned to
the starting position after each cut, when the log would be released
and the operator could take the finished "bungs" off.
Initially, the inserted tooth blades had every tooth present but as
the feed speed was a lot lower than normal (crosscutting instead of
ripping), Uncle Raymond put blanks in 2 out of every three. The
machine then started to produce wood chips instead of dust! Because
the blades were crosscutting, the teeth had no hook on them
whatsoever. Forks were fitted on the rear three point linkage of a
tractor to move the machine - the tractor had to be revved quite hard
to get the machine in the air as it was so heavy and two of the
lads would have to sit on the bonnet of the tractor to keep the front
end down. The tractor could only be driven in reverse - and anyone
foolish enough to try forwards would find the machine dragged off the
forks and two well shaken lads clinging to the bonnet as the front end
thumped down on the ground! The air could turn a little blue at this
point!!!!!
4 men
would regularly saw and load 10 tons of bungs directly onto a lorry in
a morning!
The rack
bench was kept supplied by a Ford based forwarder, again designed and built by
Uncle Raymond. The rear wheels were "on demand" drive by a
small, two cylinder Petter engine mounted just in front of the load
area. The output of this engine was reduced through two lorry
gearboxes (200:1 ratio, I believe) and gave tremendous torque to the
rear wheels. The Ford 5000 tractor had the front wheels and axle
removed and the outfit was frame steered by "push/pull"
hydraulic rams and rotated on the main joint about a lorry stub axle
giving great articulation in all terrains. This was a tremendously
successful machine and survived for many years in it's original form
An
addition to the mobile setup was this Drott. It had limited use and
did not prove to be as successful as the rest of the machines.
Howsham -
circa 1982. Ford Roadless tractors were fitted with wood carriers on
the rear three point linkage. 2 foot lengths, cut by chainsaw, were
gathered and stacked in the wood carriers and extracted to a suitable
point to make a heap. This heap was graded by hand to make either 4, 5
or 6 inch square mining chocks. When the going got sticky, Grandad
would appear driving his favourite "toy" - a crawler with
heavy duty winch and blade (BTD6) and assist as in the picture above.
Driving the tractor is my brother Matthew.
Double
slabber or "Chocking Machine" as it was affectionately known.
This was driven by a Ford 5000 tractor and usually took 4 men to operate. 1
man feeding, 2 men carrying the wood to the feeder and a man taking
the wood and slabs off the end. This machine took Raymond many weeks
to perfect as it had a nasty habit of picking the wood up as it exited
the blades and throwing it back at the feeder! This was caused by the
blades heating. The problem was eventually fixed and this machine
regularly produced 500 cubic feet of sawn timber from a 4 hour sawing
session.
The rear
of the Timber Trades Journal and prior to the Highland Show in which
Sharp's would do live demonstrations for Forestor. Unfortunately,
Forestor were not aware that the machine had had a facelift of blue
paint and there was a mild panic on just before the 150 went to the
show to get it back into Forestor colours! The picture shows Uncle
Raymond and his son, Richard operating the 150. Richard would
eventually take over all engineering from his father.
One of the
drawbacks to the 150 was the removal of slabs. Raymond would develop a
vacuum lift under the mainframe of the 150 which picked the slab and
brought it to the rear when the 150 was returning for a second cut.
Initially the vacuum was drawn from one cylinder of the Deutz diesel
powering the 150 - Deutz told Raymond they would guarantee the other
three cylinder but not the one used for the vacuum! When the 150 was
converted to electric, a separate vacuum pump was used.
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Uncle
Raymond's second son, Michael, also took to engineering after
"serving his time" at the sawmill. He spent a short
time in forestry, felling and extracting, but returned back to
his engineering roots.
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Bill
Mitchell of Elvington did most of the haulage for Sharps. Ron, the
driver, was quite a character but knew how to get on with people if he
faced any difficulties at the many pits he delivered to.
Grandad
and Uncle Allen. Location unknown but this picture was probably taken
by Grandad himself using the self timer on his camera.
The"Lads"!
Left to right are Mike Davidson, Malcolm Fintoft, Christopher Sharp,
Derek Rawnsley, Paul Gee and Robin Matthews. The blue "bin"
behind was made completely of metal. It was used for safe overnight
storage of tools and sometimes during the day at meal times if the
weather was wet. There were a few attempted break ins but no-one
managed to breach it!
Picture
taken at Birdsall Estate, shown below - JULY 1986
Birdsall
Estate and Grandad doing a "poser" for the camera! Picture
taken by my father.
A more
recent photo of my brother Matthew and I
My County
which I upgraded to from the quad bike. Purchased from JAS Wilsons and
fitted with a Boughton winch. This picture was taken in Sutton Wood,
nr Sutton Upon Derwent 1994 and coincidentally Sutton Wood was my
Uncle Allen's first planting job when he joined the Forestry
Commission in the late 1950's.
My father
setting up one of the many, live exhibitions he did whilst working for
Forestor. This picture taken in Poznan, Poland in 1991. Looks like
he's carving himself another chair!
AND
FINALLY,
Grandad
and my Father began doing tree surgery jobs on a weekend. Grandad was
a very keen photographer and wanted to save up enough cash to buy a
Hasselblad 500CM - state of the art in those days. Grandad was the
climber and Dad was the rope man although later roles would reverse
and Dad became the climber. Grandad got his camera which was passed
down to Dad when he died. The camera is still working and has just
been given to Grandad's great grandson Danny, who is also a very keen
photographer.
my
Grandparent's final resting place
The ashes
of George Alick Sharp and Isobel Carrick Sharp were finally united in
2008 when their three sons and daughter obtained permission to place a
memorial seat over their ashes in one of the first woods Grandad
managed when he moved from the Scottish border down to York.
This
site was built and is maintained by my father, Alick Miles Sharp