Today I speak with John Sherlock. As well as managing a 49 acre forest, John and his wife Evelyn own Sherlogs Firewood and Craft Timber based outside Navan in Co Meath. The business supplies firewood in the midlands and also mills timber for resale as well as offering a bespoke timber manufacturing service. If that wasn't enough John is very active in the North East Forestry Group and in a new initiative to bring small scale sawmillers across Ireland together.

So there's a lot to talk about which is why I've split the interview in two parts. In this episode we talk about what's happening in his forest right now (he had windblow in January 25 and ash dieback prior to that). Then we take a deep dive into the activities of the North East Forestry Group where John's a former Chair and current secretary. John explains how their members are thriving through participation and peer to peer learning - their activities all prove the point that a small amount of targeted Government funding can accelerate the growth and cohesion of the industry.

In the second episode (scheduled for release in two weeks) we'll discuss Johns firewood, his sawmilling business and the custom timber products he offers including post and beam from Douglas Fir. Then we move on to talk about the growing number of small scale sawmills across Ireland which can only be good news for forest owners who want to maximize revenue from broadleaf timber and diverse conifers.

Topics in this Episode:

• Johns forest, ash dieback and replanting to suit the land, windblow devastation and CCF going forward.
• Growth of the North East Forestry Group, especially since Storm Eowyn.
• Group Forest Certification (including the 12 Apostles) and expanding the number of forests certified. Learning from Certification.
• The Schools Project to bring kids into the forests.
• Supporting Future Forest Owners with bespoke learning initiatives.
• Knowledge Transfer Groups and the strength of forest owners groups - with examples including an application to fund a group owned forwarding machine.

Links

John Sherlock on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-sherlock-6a0a14236/
RDS Forestry Award 2020: https://www.forestry.ie/images/MiscDocs/2021YearbookArticles/2021YB-RDSForestryAwards.pdf
North East Forestry Group: https://northeastforestrygroup.ie/
Sherlogs Firewood: https://sherlogscrafttimber.ie/

Sherlogs Craft Timber: https://sherlogs.ie/
Guide to Small Scale Sawmilling: https://irishforestowners.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IFO-Sawmilling-Handbook-2025.pdf

https://forestrynow.eu/