Carrbridge carver cut out for stardom in new TV series

Competitive chain saw carver septuagenarian Alice Buttress, who lives in Carrbridge, is to star in a new TV series.

Loggerheads is a new series on the BBC Scotland channel which pits two teams of woodworking experts against each other in a timed competition to create something spectacular from their freshly felled timber in just 24 hours.

Visiting some of Scotland’s most magnificent woodlands the teams cut, craft, create and camp in the great outdoors. The woodchips fly as the experts battle against the clock, their opponents and mother nature.

Both items will remain in the woodlands but when the clock runs out and the sawdust settles only one team can claim victory – chosen by a local judge - and lift the coveted golden axe.

Presenting this series is comedian farmer Jim Smith, who says: “I like a bit of woodworking myself – I am a farmer and I do have my own chainsaw – but nothing like what these guys can create.

“The teams on this are terrific and I think people will love seeing their work and ‘being’ out of doors with them in these fantastic forest settings.

“Obviously I’ve been around Scotland a fair bit but we went to some amazing locations and meeting the local judges was great; they all care so much about their local area and are so passionate about it.

“And at the end of the day whatever team wins, the local area has two great projects which will benefit visitors and the local community.

“Seeing it all from start to finish, from the trees being felled in the forest to being turned into brilliant creations there on site, has really inspired me.”

The teams travel the length and breadth of Scotland, visiting a different woodland each episode, as they bid to impress a local judge.

Using wood felled as part of the woodlands’ management plans, the experts wrestle this freshly cut timber, which can be notoriously tricky to work with. As they work on their creations the teams face everything the Scottish climate can throw at them from scorching sun in the Borders and howling winds on the North Coast to torrential rain on the Inner Hebrides.

The two team captains are:

Linzi St Clair Thompson (33). Originally from Edinburgh but now living just outside Perth, Linzi enjoyed a spell in France as a ski instructor and off piste guide, working out of season back in Edinburgh with furniture and also on set/costume design.

Vicente Ridaura-Harvey (35). From Mexico, he's now based in East Lothian. He does everything from fine joinery to cabinet and furniture making.

Each week they will each be joined by two team members from a roster of regulars, which includes the strath's own Alice, who'll make her first appearance in the second episode, which comes from a forest at Gillies Hill in Stirlingshire. Over the course of the series the team’s creations will also include a boat inspired picnic table, a swing seat and a play fort.

Loggerheads, which has been produced by Mighty Productions Scotland, starts tonight on the BBC Scotland channel at 8.30pm, with Alice due to make her appearance next Thursday at the same time.

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