Pollarding

On Monday and Tuesday the tree pollarders were hard at work on the willows by the stream. These had clearly had been pollarded before, but not for some years. They've produced quite a few cords and a lot of sweepings. The sweepings they are intending to burn, but perhaps everything was too damp today. I'm not sure what we're going to do with the cords. It might be possible to sell it for chipping into woodchip fuel, but it may not be suitable; willow has a high moisture content, although this wood might be OK because it is older. Now at a distance, the cut ends shine orange among the greyness of the other winter vegetation.