What "Grand Designs" 3-th episode about
For 10 years, Ben lived in tents and caravans in a wood in West Sussex. As a woodsman, he needed and wanted to live among the trees, but now he wanted a house for some creature comforts. He invited volunteers to help him build one by hand, from the materials growing around him.
Ben owned a third of the sweet-chestnut woodland and rented the rest. The house he designed was to be made almost entirely of wood, with an A-frame made of tree trunks, a wooden platform for a floor and oak shingles on the roof.
All the timber would come from the surrounding trees - sweet chestnut is a strong hardwood, ideal for this kind of building. Because Ben coppices trees instead of removing them, roots and all, new growth would quickly replace the old.
Episode number: 3
Episode name: "Sussex: The Woodsmans Cottage"
Episode release date: 26 february 2003 at 21:00
Status: aired