“Circular Economy – An economic system on which the journey of a product, material, etc., leads back in some way to where it began.”
Oxford English Dictionary
EMERGE was contracted by the National Trust at Dunham Massey in Cheshire, to collect and reclaim some wood from the estate. It included the half posts which are used to protect tree trunks from the resident deer herd. Later on, Dunham Massey asked Touch Wood to produce a number of wooden planters for use as part of an educational partnership with a local SEND (Special Educational Needs & Disabilities) school. This project gave us the perfect opportunity to close the circle, by using the tree protectors in the construction of the planters.
The tree protectors are erected to shield the trunks of trees from the fallow deer which roam the 300 acre parkland within the National Trust estate. When they needed to be replaced, Touch Wood (our sister organisation) was called to collect them with the intention that they should be reused in other projects prolonging the life of the timber.
When Touch Wood designed the planters, the decision was made to use some of the half posts we had collected from Dunham Massey as part of the cladding. On returning to the National Trust site with the completed planters, not only were they thrilled with the planters themselves, they were particularly happy to see that some of their own reclaimed tree protectors had been recycled in this way and that they ended up back where they had begun.
Back in its original home
Dunham Massey’s Senior Programming and Partnerships Officer, Helen Lomas said the reuse of the half posts in making the planters was a really nice touch, “It was great to work with Mike and the team at Touch Wood. I loved the concept that the wood being used to make the planters was recycled and re-purposed back to its original ‘home’. The team were great with the SEND students and ensured that the design of the planters met the brief (that they were wheelchair accessible) and could be constructed by the pupils. The school continue to care for the planters throughout the seasons and the project has been a great success.”
The five planters were designed for a particular project which the National Trust was running in partnership with Piper Hill SEND school. They needed to be accessible (two of the planters were designed so wheelchair users could easily access them). The team at Dunham Massey also wanted the pupils to be involved in the construction as well as the compost filling and maintenance of the plants in the planters.
Work Experience Programme
Students from Piper Hill spent several sessions at the National Trust estate, building and filling the planters as part of their work experience programme. The planters are now situated close to the main Visitor Centre which is at the entrance to the estate allowing everyone the chance to see their handiwork.
Mike Taylor, Commercial Director at EMERGE Recycling & Touch Wood said, “This is a wonderful project, we were really pleased to support the National Trust and Dunham Massey in making this possible. We collected tree protectors with the aim of reusing them. Little did we know that we would get such a great opportunity to reuse them back at Dunham Massey on a project with a local school. The circular economy is something people talk about – this project proves that if we work together and make use of valuable materials like wood, we can make a real difference to our climate in small but important actions. Thank you to Helen and the team at Dunham Massey for taking the time to deliver a wonderful project and for including our team at Touch Wood.”
If you would like to find out more about the services Touch Wood offers, from wood collections to designing bespoke items from reclaimed wood, please get in touch with us. Call 0161 223 8200 or email info@touchwood.org.uk
