Working Towards Sustainability
We use locally-coppiced wood and British-made Regentex canvas to make our Awnings
You buy an Awning, We'll plant a tree
We commit to planting one tree per Awning sold, and aim to plant many more...
Having worked in woodlands for many years, coppicing and harvesting hundreds of poles for our tents, tree planting has always been important to us.
In the last four years we've planted over 1,000 trees in hedging and shelter-belts around our workshop.
We have identified strong disease resistant seed trees in our small woodland and stared to propagate ash and elm saplings - our own tiny tree nursery.
Sourcing Wood
The Environment is important to us and we're very conscious of our impact on it.
That's why we work with local, natural materials & minimise waste where possible.
We source coppiced ash and thicket larch from local woodlands - often small-scale or community woodlands.
Its gratifying to know that from tree to Awning - the whole process will happen within a very small geographical radius. So we're creating something beautiful and functional with minimal impact on the environment.
Our Workshop
Our Northumberland workshop is just walking distance from our home - so no commute to work for us.
Starting with the fresh-cut poles in Spring, we use traditional methods and hand-tools to produce our Awning frames.
The making process is informed by green wood-craft.
When the sap is rising in the trees we harvest ash and larch and peel the bark by hand.
This gives a beautiful finish and - leaving all the fibres intact - preserves the natural strength of the product.
Poles are then left to air-dry before we finish them with natural linseed oil.
In the winter the workshop is heated by our saw-dust burner. Its very satisfying to heat the space using the natural 'waste' from the job in hand.
Consciously sourced, Locally STITCHED Canvas
The canvas canopies of our Woodman's Awnings are sewn from British-made Regentex canvas.
We source our Regentex from a Uk company that is part of The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a global not-for-profit organisation and the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world. BCI exists to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, better for the environment it grows in and better for the sector’s future. Learn more about BCI here.
The canvas is then stitched locally - just 5 miles from our own workshop - by Simon and Justine at SkyTents. With over 30 years of combined experience of making canvas structures - these guys produce our canvas canopies to the very highest of standards.
