Introduction

Over and above its substantial arable acreage, Morghew Park also covers about 200 acres of mainly deciduous woodland in Tenterden, Kent.   Most of this had become severely overgrown in the decades before the Great Storm of 1987, and which by the turn of the century was in urgent need of radical restoration and management.

Fortunately, this period coincided with growing interest in renewable fuels and wood-burning stoves.  As a result, a new Estate business was born, offering local customers a number of unusual and innovative ways to purchase firewood logs.

The convenient way

There are a number of problems with the way that firewood logs are currently sold to homeowners.  The market is well-served with folk who advertise in local newspapers and will happily deliver a substantial load of logs with a Land Rover or tractor and trailer.

However, the economics of delivery are such that it can be very difficult to get a small delivery made to your home.  For many homeowners, the only way to purchase logs in small quantities is to buy them in plastic nets from petrol station forecourts.  These nets can be expensive, and in most cases the wood is pine, which can burn away very quickly.

Morghew Park already had an honesty stall selling potatoes as well as wheat for poultry, and in 2010, we decided to extend this principle to firewood logs.

Our Potato Shop stall now includes three large boxes of different grades of firewood logs – budget logs, general purpose logs and small logs for small woodburners and coal grates.  Sat next to these are a couple of sets of scales to weigh out 25kgs of logs.  All our customers need to do is reverse their car up to the appropriate box, weigh out any multiple of 25kgs of logs, and load them into the boot of their car. (If you bring bag to place in the scales it can make loading them into your car then house a little easier!) Each £25kg load of budget logs costs £6, general purpose logs cost £7 and the smaller logs cost £8.  Customers can pay for these in exactly the same way that they pay for potatoes – namely by putting the correct money or a cheque payable to ‘Morghew Park Estate’ into one of our transparent envelopes and posting it through the farm office door.

The beauty of this is that it’s great for household cash-flow.  Customers only buy the quantity of logs they need – when they need them.  It takes away the risk of spending a couple of hundred pounds on logs, many of which you may not need for 12 months if the winter turns out to be gentler than expected.

The seriously affordable way

A few years ago, one of our customers who buys split logs, 25kg at a time, had this to say to us:

‘Do you know anyone who could deliver a trailer load of seasoned firewood in longer lengths.  I could get the whole family to help sawing this up with a bowsaw, and presumably we’d save a fortune in the process?’

Well, the answer was ‘yes’, and they did save a fortune. Since 2011, the Estate has been delivering  seasoned but uncut and unsplit firewood, in lengths of up to 8 foot, in an Ifor Williams tipping trailer behind a 4×4.  We can tip this on your drive, or at any accessible location in your garden.

We’re not able to calculate the exact weight or volume of one of these loads, but the internal dimensions of the trailer are 8’ long by 4’10” wide by 3’ high, and we will cram as much uncut wood as we can into each load.

The cost of each load will be £125 plus £1 per mile for the first eight miles, then £2 per mile thereafter to your address (one way).

Due to the recent cold weather we are now limited on what we can deliver in this way, please call us to check what is available 01580 763 158.

And finally the conventional way …

If none of our unusual and innovative ways to purchase firewood logs takes your fancy, then we can be conventional as well and deliver a half-trailer or full trailer of chopped logs to your address.  The dimensions and mileage charges are asa above, and the cost is from  £140 + delivery for a half load and from £245 + delivery for a full load.

If you have any questions about our firewood sales, please feel free to email us on firewood@morghew.com or call us on (01580) 763158.

It’s easy to find us. Just go to the western end of Tenterden High Street – also known as the A28 – at the Rolvenden end of the town. At the traffic lights next to the William Caxton public house, take the B2082 signposted to Rye. After 1/3 of a mile, you’ll pass a supermarket on your left, and 200 yards further on the right, take a private road marked ‘Morghew’. Follow this for ¼ of a mile, and after you’ve passed over a second cattle grid, you’ll find the Potato Shop and our logs on your right.

Finally, please remember that logs can spit.  ALWAYS USE A FIREGUARD.

We also sell hardwood kindling in nets, and these can be added to your firewood order and delivered at the same time.