Monkey business

We went along to Westonbirt Arboretum this afternoon, taking advantage of our membership to enjoy the Festival of the Tree.

I was particularly keen to see Ben Law, who once appeared in one of my favourite TV programmes, Grand Designs, and who was giving a talk at the festival on eco-building.

Grand Designs followed Ben as he built a house in the Suffolk forest where he is a woodsman, using timber from around him in the construction. Today's talk described how he did this and featured other fascinating projects he has worked on.

Ben is an inspirational chap, completely at one with timber and so knowledgeable about its characteristics and how to work with it. It was an engrossing hour.

There was lots more going on at the festival. There were scores of stalls featuring everything from wood-related art to children's grandfather clocks.

But lots of visitors were drawn to an area where sculptures were being created out of tree trunks by artists in crash helmets wielding chainsaws.

Pictured is Nigel Sardeson crafting Sitting Gorilla.

The sculpture is intended to demonstrate the bulk and power of the gorilla, while representing its peaceful nature.

And good it was too.

* The speck above the gorilla is a bee in flight. I was going to clone it out, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that to a living creature!