The original enterprise called the "Ellesmere Timber Company" was first incorporated on 3rd May 1957 and occupied only part of the present 37 acre site. The main products in the early years were cut from home-grown Timber, both softwood and hardwood, and were sold to a wide range of markets such as general fencing, pallet boards, cable drums and the mining industry. A great deal of the oak went to make fence posts and the remaining hardwoods went into the mines as chocks, pillar woods and lids.
Gradual Changes
As the sawmill prospered, so did other ventures and during the 1960's and 1970's other companies joined the "ETC GROUP", amongst which was a similar sawmill at Conwy in North Wales and a new round timber fencing company, trading at a convenient site on the A5 at Gledrid, near Chirk. However, the Conwy site was sold in 1979, along with other parts of the group. The remaining sites are as you see them today, the sawmill at Ellesmere and the retail site at Gledrid.
During the 1960's and 1970's two important factors changed the whole emphasis of homegrown sawmilling, the supply of hardwood timber declined gradually, and the market for mining timber disappeared dramatically, almost overnight. Anticipating this, the sawmill output was gradually changed over to the production of quality softwood fencing. Another significant development in this period was the ability of a sawmill to turn its "waste" into by-products such as chips, which then had a variety of uses, with the added bonus of easing the slab problems noted above.
