Carving new life into the ancient

RONNIE GRAHAM

Carving new life into the ancient

By Lynda Cookson

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Fascinated, I listened to Ronnie’s comments on the history of the bog-wood: ‘The Ice Age began retreating about ten thousand years ago and growth started to appear. About two or three thousand years later trees like oak, yew and a close relative to the scots pine took hold. There were huge climate changes after that – it got warmer and wetter and trees in many areas found the conditions no longer suitable for them and they died. They either crashed down or rotted where they stood. The death of the trees allowed fast growing bog plants like moss to develop, and if it grew fast enough, it covered the tree quickly and began the process of preservation. Hundreds of years later, the bog covered it. The bog is oxygen free and therefore has excellent potential for preserving the wood for many centuries.’

He went on to tell me about how the different hues in the wood developed: ‘The oak was the ordinary white oak but a mixture of iron in the bog water and tannin in the oak produced a chemical reaction in the wood, which turned it black. The yew darkened in the same way to a maroon tint, and the extinct variety of wood which is closest to scots pine turned into a honey colour.’