The Exmoor Society has just announced their 2017 Pinnacle Award winner – young Exmoor entrepreneur, Nick Hosegood, an arborist from Luxborough. The Exmoor Society Pinnacle Award, which was set up in 2011, is open to young people aged 18 to 27, and offers up to £3,000 for an idea for an Exmoor-based business venture in agriculture, forestry, conservation, horticulture, craft or tourism. Through this award, the Exmoor Society aims to provide opportunities for young people to stay in the greater Exmoor area to demonstrate how beautiful landscapes and livelihoods can go together.
With his £3,000 award, Nick plans to offer a portable milling service to Exmoor – his vision being to mill felled Exmoor-grown timber on site for use in structures, fencing or as building materials. The venture will allow him to extend his efforts in woodland management to improve and expand the woodland coverage on Exmoor.
Nick went to school in Minehead, then on to Plymouth University to study animal behaviour. But his greatest wish was to work and live on Exmoor, so he trained as an arborist and set up his own company called Three Atop Woodland Services. Concerned about the amount of wood wasted or burned on Exmoor, his plans for a mobile milling machine will enable him to turn felled timber into furniture, fencing and building materials on site for use by the landowner (even using the milling remains for fuel), or removing the wood for use locally elsewhere.
When informed of his success, Nick said: “I am truly grateful for this opportunity to expand my woodland business with the purchasing of mobile chainsaw milling machinery. I aim to reduce the wastage of wood on Exmoor by processing timber to be used by Exmoor people. In the future I am looking to take on a local apprentice to assist me with milling activities and to train them to become an arborist and share the same ethos towards conservation.”
Chairman of The Exmoor Society, Rachel Thomas, said ‘It is noticeable that Nick recognises the sustainable use of Exmoor’s woodlands and hopes to offer employment and training to another person living locally. This is precisely the purpose of the Pinnacle Award: to support young people to earn a living within Exmoor National Park without the need to seek employment outside the area. The award helps to demonstrate that special landscapes and livelihoods are very much linked together.’
More information on the woodland services Nick offers can be found on his website http://threeatop.co.uk/. Alternatively click here to learn more about The Exmoor Society and the Pinnacle Award.
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