She’s a lumberJILL and she’s okay! The world of female Timbersports
For some, Monty Python’s Lumberjack Song is an iconic piece of British humour. But – for Britain’s champion female ‘lumberJills’- the sport has moved so far from the hunky sterotype mocked by the sketch group.
This weekend the group will be preparing for the second-ever Women’s Timbersports Championships, where the country’s best battle it out with axes and chainsaws.
Thought to be the epitome of a masculine profession, the sport has been driving to become more inclusive – as women are welcomed into the countryside clubs.
Far from outraged Mounties leaving as a husky Michael Palin sings about his exploits in ‘high heels, suspenders and a bra’ – the modern-day event even sees male and female lumberjacks competing together in combined events.
One – the Jack and Jill – sees a man and a woman on either side of a big, double-handed saw.
Sarah Cox, who first tried the sport two years ago before being brought to her local club by a friend from work
The very first show was held last year and Sarah – who runs the recycling department at a soft drinks company – went home with the bronze medal
The modern-day event even sees male and female lumberjacks competing together in combined events. Pictured: Sarah Cox doing the Jack and Jill
Sarah Cox, who first tried the sport two years ago, has previously mastered skydiving, aerial acrobatics and boxing – before being brought to her local club by a friend from work.
The 42-year-old, from Llandinan, Wales, said: ‘It’s quite a masculine sport – people look at axes and chainmail and it is what you would classically associate with men rather than women.
‘But then I think a lot of people forget a lot of the roots of, say, during the war when you had the lumberJills doing all those kinds of jobs as well.
‘In a way it’s a nod to people like that – I’d love to think that the women like that are not being forgotten and that spirit is being kept alive through it.
‘It’s quite a strange environment because everyone’s very friendly. It’s not like a lot of sports where people are completely and utterly competitive, and your competitor is your enemy.
‘It’s more like people are trying to help each other out, give each other tips. It’s a very friendly and inviting sport.
‘You start to know people from around the world – it’s like you’ve got a worldwide family. Everybody’s got that thing in common.
‘You get people from all walks of life doing it but it’s generally people who just like the outdoors and a bit of adventure.’
Daredevil Sarah has previously mastered skydiving, aerial acrobatics and boxing
Dee Hardwick at the British Women’s Championship in 2022 with fellow lumberJill Cat Eccles
Cat Eccles, 42 and Justine Narusa, 33, compete in the Underhand Chop a the British Women’s Championships last year
The idea of a lumberJill is not new – in the Second World War the Women’s Timber Corps used the nickname in a bid to releave the shortage of imported timber after the German invasion of Norway.
Hosted by chainsaw company Stihl, the championship this at the Royal Three Counties Show on Sunday, June 18 will see modern lumberJills battling it out in three disciplines – the Stock Saw, Single Buck and Underhand Chop.
The very first show was held last year and Sarah – who runs the recycling department at a soft drinks company – went home with the bronze medal.
She continued: ‘To be a part of the first one – that was amazing.
‘I went into that not really caring about where I came, but just to be part of history for the first Women’s British Championship was amazing.
‘And to see this year how everyone I competed with has come on, how we’ve all grown, how we’ve grown together – and to see the new women that are coming up and giving it a go as well.
‘It’s absolutely brilliant to be welcoming more people into it.’
The extreme series – which has its roots in a bet between two loggers in Tasmania, Australia – marked its 35th anniversary in 2020 and has branches across the world.
Dee Hardwick, a theatre support worker at Kidderminster Hospital, laughed as she described the typical lumberjack wearing check shirts and jeans.
Dee Hardwick, a theatre support worker at Kidderminster Hospital, decided to give the sport a go after buying and selling chainsaws while furloughed over lockdown
A keen rugby player who has also played hockey and raced motorbikes, the 45-year-old from Reddich says views towards women’s sports have changed dramatically since the 2012 Olympics
She and her friends are dressing up in the style as a joke for her upcoming hen do.
A keen rugby player who has also played hockey and raced motorbikes, the 45-year-old from Reddich says views towards women’s sports have changed dramatically since the 2012 Olympics – and particularly groundbreaking campaigns by Team GB’s cycling and hockey teams.
So – when she started buying and selling chainsaws while furloughed over lockdown – she decided to give it a go.
She said: ‘The boys are so friendly. There are no egos. They want women to compete – they know that is the future of the sport. They’re very supportive.
‘We want to prove to men that we can do it.
‘My partner is amazing. She’s a policewoman and she thinks it’s absolutely bonkers, but comes along and supports and has actually started doing it herself.
‘There are some fantastic women out doing this fantastic work. And they are being treated as equals. That’s the great thing about the sport.
‘I’ve made some cracking best friends from this.’