VOLUNTEERS have helped a nature trust set up what could be a lucrative sideline fuelling a season of summer barbecues.
People from Durham and Northumberland joined staff from the Durham Wildlife Trust on a two-day charcoal burning project in remote Baal Hill Wood, near Wolsingham.
Guided by expert Maurice Pyle, the only commercial charcoal producer in the area, the volunteers burned specially felled native hardwoods in two large metal kilns. The wood is set alight and turf placed over it to ensure it smoulders rather than flares.
The resulting charcoal will be bagged and sold in trust centres and shops.
Reserves officer John Gorst said: "The project is part of a drive for sustainable woodland management. Producing charcoal is a way of adding value to timber that is worth very little."
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