Firewood delivered in Cheadle

We cover Cheadle and out through Upper and Lower Tean, Checkley, Kingsley, Froghall, Oakamoor, Alton, Dilhorne and Draycott in the Moors, and on towards Ipstones.

We know these lanes. The drop down through the Churnet Valley, the narrow stretches round Oakamoor and Alton, the farm tracks off the B5417: none of it is new to us, but it does mean we want to know what we're coming to. Steep drives and soft ground are common, and we use a tipping trailer. Tell us about a tight gateway, a steep pull up to the house or a yard that turns soft in the wet when you order, and we'll plan it properly.

Cheadle sits higher and colder than the Trent valley, and it stays wet for longer. If your house is off the gas main, as plenty are out towards Kingsley and Ipstones, the burner is doing the real work from October onwards and you'll get through more wood than someone in town.

That's an argument for kiln dried logs rather than seasoned. Ours come in under 20% moisture and are Ready to Burn certified (WS7474/00001), so they light straight off and give you the heat you paid for. Damp wood spends the first half hour boiling the water out of itself instead of warming the room, and puts the tar straight up your flue. In a house where the stove is on every night, that difference adds up over a winter, both in logs burned and in how often the chimney needs sweeping.

If your wood is going into an open-sided store or an outbuilding, keep the stack off the floor and the top covered, leave the sides open to the air, and it'll be in the same condition in February as the day it arrived. Our guide to lighting and storing logs has more.

From us, delivered to your door rather than collected from a forecourt. A bulk bag holds half a cubic metre and a barrow bag about a fifth. Bags suit you if you're short of space or the lorry can't reach where the wood needs to go. If you can take a loose tip, a full cubic metre works out cheaper per log. Ordering early gives you a better choice of day in a busy winter.