Photos: Nick Jones

Beavers from Cuddington and Sandiway sampled pizza during their overnight stay at Forest Camp thanks to the Saltscape Landscape Partnership.

The group munched their way through the first twelve pizzas ever to be cooked in the new cob ovens  on the site, run by the Scouts Association, at Oakmere near Sandiway on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ovens were built by volunteers earlier this year  as part of Saltscape’s programme of heritage skills courses.

Saul Burton, Saltscape Project Officer said,  ‘We needed a large amount of clay sub-soil to make the ovens traditionally, and, in a lovely twist, we found it courtesy of  Eddie Saunt from AE Yeates Civil Engineers and Tunnelling Contractors who are working on the roadworks at Chesterway in Northwich at the time.’

The soil was delivered, free of charge, and then ‘trodden’ by volunteers to create the correct consistency for building the ovens.  Read more about the building of the ovens here  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several weeks later, when fully dried, out the ovens were ready for firing.  Saul says, ‘It’s been great to be part of a project has generated such a lot of interest and excitement.  No two cob ovens are alike.  You don’t quite know how it’s going to turn out until you first fire it.  There are lots of variables involved in using natural materials – in this case, the very ground beneath our feet!  A few cracks sometimes appear, but they can easily be patched.  We hope the ovens will be here for many years to feed visitors to Forest Camp!’.

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