Unique products built entirely from timber reclaimed on the island
Endangered species are definitely off-limits, but many people also try and avoid making unnecessary demands on natural resources, and prefer to re-use materials wherever possible. Its good news then that if you want to have a fitted kitchen built in the Isle of Man there is one company here which uses almost entirely reclaimed wood.
Mike Clark of Laxey got together with John McAuley to form Silverdale Pine, with orders for two built-in kitchens before they even started work. Silverdale pine has since been bought out by Complete Construction Services and now trades as Silverdale Woodcraft Limited. Mike, a trained electrical engineer, had learned his joinery skills as an enthusiastic boat builder; John was making silver jewellery at the time, but had had experience of kitchen planning and fitting in London.
They have been kept busy simply through word-of-mouth recommendations. They build entirely of solid timber, using new pine for the carcases but reclaimed wood nearly an inch thick for all the doors, drawer fronts and worktops. Remarkably, they have so far been able to gather all the timber they need on the island. ‘Its just a question of keeping your ear to the ground’, says Mike Clark. The Douglas fir used to build the kitchen (pictured on the next page) came from old pews discarded from Lonan Church, and another kitchen pine dating from the 1930’s was removed from the demolition of a house in Braddan.
The really hard work goes into cleaning the
wood up’, says Mike. Fortunately I have some pretty rugged tools
which I’ve used for working on my boat over the past few years.’
The result is timber with real character, its aged look fitting in perfectly
with old houses and freeing owners from the worry of accidental damage.
The odd dent or scratch is of no consequence at all when the character
of a kitchen already depends on a distressed finish.
