Lumberjill hacks way to glory after slashing saw speed record

By Nathan Pynn

A British woodcutter has smashed a speed saw record to hack her way to global glory as the world's best female lumberjack.

Rachel Ferrington, 44, is chopping down timber and competing with her sharp wood-cutting skills.

She only took up the sport by chance after talking to a male friend at the gym three years ago, which she initially thought was a bizarre chat-up line.

After one training session, Rachel discovered she was a natural and in June, she set a new world record for speed sawing.

She entered a stock saw event, which involves cutting lumps of wood into cookie shapes, which she managed in just 8.82 seconds - slicing a second off the previous record.

Rachel was also picked to represent Britain at the World Timbersports Championships in Milan, Italy, last week.

The ‘lumberjill’ was the only female entrant and helped the five-strong Team GB scoop 7th position in a series of gruelling cutting and sawing heats.

Rachel, who ran her own painting and decorating firm before working as a maintenance officer for Hay Castle, in Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire, said: “It’s amazing.

“I had never even heard of wood cutting competitions before I had a chance conversation with a friend three years ago.

“We both went to the same gym, and he just stopped me one day and asked me if I’d ever chopped wood.

“I said no, and he said he thought I had what it takes to take part in timber sports.

“It was such a strange thing to ask, at first I thought it was a bizarre chat up line until I went along and realised he was being serious.”

Rachel, who is single and has no children, trains five days a week to perfect her axe-swinging and chainsawing skills.

She said: “Cutting wood isn’t just about strength, it’s about getting the mechanics right.

“You have to have the right combination of technique, precision and stamina.

“There’s no point just smashing away at a piece of wood; that’ll get you nowhere.

“I think I have good power, but my technique is good and I’m determined.

“The sport is huge in other countries like Australia and Canada, but it is growing here in the UK.”

Despite huge competition from other ‘lumberjills’, Rachel hopes to build on her world record by winning another global tournament next year.

She added, “There are rumors of a female World Cup in Stuttgart next year, which I would love to win.

“It’s great setting a new world record and it was an honour to be the only woman to compete at the World Championships.”

Rachel is one of around 80 axewomen currently competing in the UK.

She said: "I've always been sporty and competitive. At school, I was the only girl in the football and cricket team. I was also the only woman on a jousting team.

"I'm proud to be a lumberjill. It's a difficult and demanding sport, but there is so much I get out of it, and I get to travel the world to compete.

"I'd love it if other girls and women took it up."