Pole climbers and chainsaw artists to compete at show

Top pole climbers and chainsaw sculptors are to compete in the West Midlands this week at one of the UK's largest forestry shows.

On Thursday, the APF International Forestry Machine Exhibition returns to Ragley Hall near Alcester, Warwickshire, the show's home since 2012.

The 50th anniversary of the event will feature demonstrations of tree-felling, fence-building and high-tech machinery, as well as world and European championships in the 25m (82ft) pole climbing and chainsaw carving competitions.

Exhibition secretary Ian Millward said organisers wanted to educate people that growing and selling trees was in most cases "a sustainable thing".

While most visitors will be from within the industry, Millward explained the competitive side to the four days also appealed to other visitors.

The best pole climbing competitors could race to the top in under 10 seconds, he said.

Another highlight will be the European chainsaw carving championships, where participants are given artistic freedom to sculpt a piece of art from a solid lump of timber.

"They look at this log and three days later, they've turned it into an unbelievable sculpture which is twice as high as it was to begin with and three times as wide," Millward said.

"It is a really, really wonderful sort of art and skill to see."

The annual show brings together industry professionals from across the world to examine new techniques and machines.

According to research from the government's internal forestry research service, the sector generated £1.8bn in exports in 2024, most of which came from sales of wood pulp and paper.

Millward said around £90m of machinery would be on show, with some of the vehicles costing around £650,000.

"Half the show is all about things that people see in their day-to-day lives when they need some branches removed from their tree, or their apple tree pruning, or street trees that need attention before they hurt pedestrians."

The 50th anniversary show has one major difference to the first, held at Longleat Safari Park in 1976.

"In 1976 we actually [had] some timber extraction demos with an elephant because Longleat had the safari park and it had an elephant there who would actually be used for pulling out timber in Thailand," he said.

"Unfortunately, we haven't managed to get hold of an elephant, so it's all a little bit more mechanical."

The show opens on 24 September at 09:00 BST and runs until 17:00 on Saturday.

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