Latest News
Efficient transport operations make perfect sense all round
One of the areas we pay a lot of attention to is the efficient use of transport. For example, in almost every case lorries taking finished product from our mill to customers run with full loads. It makes sound environmental sense because part loads mean more wagons on the road, full loads mean fewer. It…
When the sun shines…
It’s not yet 9:30 on a glorious day here in Bishop’s Castle. The big saws aren’t running because it’s Saturday but we are running the feather edge line, treatment tank, biomass boiler and kiln all operated by the power of the sun: and look how much energy is going to the grid. Fantastic!
A bit of a car crush
Bishop’s Castle is the sort of place where everybody knows just about everyone else and in many ways it thrives on community spirit. We, like very many others, try to help out in whatever way we can, whenever we can. Some of the more unusual requests for help sometimes come from Bishop’s Castle Fire Station….
Bloomin’ marvellous
It was great to hear from Jane Allard today. Every year she grows plants to sell as a way of raising funds for the #SpArC here in Bishop’s Castle and in recent years we’ve helped start the process by giving her some bags of #sylvagrow. SylvaGrow® is an award-winning, RHS endorsed peat-free compost which is…
When the sun shines….
Friday was a glorious day here in Bishop’s Castle so our solar panels were generating electricity at a cracking rate. This grab of one of the control panel screens shows us producing over 500kw. Double it up and you can see we’re at 1mw. We’re producing more than we use on days like this so…
Real progress at St. George’s School in Clun
You might recall that we helped St. George’s Church of England School in Clun by donating some timber recently to create a timber framed shelter so that pupils can observe the pond and work outdoors whenever possible. As you can see from the picture the dream is steadily becoming reality and it really won’t be…
A welcome visitor to the mill
It was great to see this SylvaGrow® liveried #awjenkinson trailer picking up materials in the yard today: it’s a very large and physical representation of our determination not to waste any part of the logs we mill. SylvaGrow® is an award-winning, RHS endorsed peat-free compost which is used by gardeners throughout the UK and is…
Good progress being made on the new sawdust extraction plant
At Ransfords it’s important to us that every part of the trees we mill is used. The timber, of course, is the main part but the bark is graded and used for landcsape mulches and play areas, the chippings go on for processing as chip board and other products, and the sawdust is used in…
Here’s a sight for sore sawmiller’s eyes!
Despite the fact that it’s a dreary day there are few finer sights for those who work in a sawmill than 8 fully loaded trailers waiting for the wagons to get the finished product on the way. There’s boards, posts, feather edge and fencing rails in there: treated and untreated, heading to sites and stockists…
There’s a new defibrillator in Bishop’s Castle
Thanks to a 50% grant from government and the balance from us there’s now a new public defibrillator on Station Street. It’s near the Public Hall and opposite the car park. Public defibrillators save lives: more than 25,000 people die from cardiac arrests outside of hospital annually. If a defibrillator is used within one minute,…
Further investment in solar energy
These drone images taken by a friend of ours yesterday show the scale of our investment in solar energy. Harnessing the power of the sun in this way not only reduces the overall carbon footprint of the business as a whole but also makes it less vulnerable to energy price shocks. This in turn makes…
Funeral arrangements for Steve Green
Steve’s funeral will be held on Thursday 21st March at 11am in St John the Baptist Church in Bishop’s Castle. That’s the Parish Church at the bottom of the town. We’ll be closing the mill that day as a mark of respect so please feel free to park here if you wish. It’s only a…
