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 World Class Willow

A hand finished product made from English willow and exported throughout the world, a manufacturing process that has hardly changed for over 125 years and a factory employing 45 people in rural East Sussex – a rare success story for an English timber-based industry at the beginning of the 21st Century

Back in 1876, in the sleepy village of Robertsbridge, at the heart of East Sussex, the famous cricketer W G Grace asked the local bat maker, Mr Nicolls, to make him a specially designed cricket bat. Humble beginnings for a manufacturing operation now producing 25,000 individually hand finished bats a year, with English cricket stars such as Andrew Strauss and Robert Key playing with Gray-Nicolls bats.

Gray-Nicolls are unique as the only cricket bat manufacturer to manage their own willow plantations throughout England, with an in-house replenishment programme started in the nineteen fifties.  The Gray-Nicolls felling gang currently harvest about 100 acres of willow a year, with at least two trees planted for every tree used.

Simon Beale, Gray-Nicolls Willow Manager, is looking for more plantation sites in the South East – often the best sites are beside a river or stream.  Simon offers two contracts. Gray-Nicolls will plant and maintain the willow plantation, buying back the timber after 15-18 years at 50% of the market value, when the trees reach a circumference of 56”. Or they will simply plant the willow, leaving the owner to do the rest, buying back the timber for 75% of the market value.  Gray-Nicolls cricket bat manufacture is creating a significant demand for English willow, offering landowners an opportunity to plant a sustainably grown raw material resulting in a world-class product.  

If you are interested in finding out more about Gray-Nicolls contracts for plantation willow, please contact Simon Beale, Gray-Nicolls Willow Manager, Tel: 07887 480890

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