Derbyshire family are helping to maintain woodland as well as making sustainable charcoal for your summer barbecue

The Midshires Way is a 224 mile-long public footpath connecting Manchester to Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire.

Halfway along its route, it winds through an ancient woodland planted with pine trees in the 1960s between Crich and Wirksworth and it was left unmanaged until three years ago when Matthew Robinson, 39, and two friends, bought a 30-acre plot known as Longway Bank.

They began to manage the woodland and, as part of the woodland management plan and with the aim of zero waste and full sustainability, Matthew, along with his partner, Kate Bradshaw, and her mother, Stephanie Bradshaw, began using traditional techniques to turn the thinned hardwood timber into charcoal, before replanting the woodland with a range of native broadleaf saplings.

Matthew works part-time for the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and also sells traditional woodcraft tools.

The fledgling business made 100 bags last year but is set to make 300 or 400 this summer. Each bag contains enough charcoal for about two barbecues.

Matthew said: “The weather’s been great, and people stuck at home are probably taking the opportunity to enjoy a change from normal dinners to have a lovely barbecue in the garden.

“Through our local shops, we’ve already sold more this season than in the whole of last year.

“We are proud to offer a more sustainable alternative to imported charcoal, much of which comes from sensitive habitats, such as mangrove and rainforest.

“Our charcoal only needs a couple of bits of newspaper and a few twigs to get it going. So no more tainting your sausages with petroleum flavours.”

Once the wood in the kiln has been lit, it takes roughly 24 hours to turn to charcoal. Each burn will make about 60 bags of charcoal.

Matthew said: “We’ve just started experimenting with a second kiln. It’s a more modern design.”

He added: “We gauge how often we need to make the charcoal primarily by the weather.”