I did some charcoal-burning in a re-enactment context at Rufford park [outskirts of Sherwood forest I think..... Notts] a few weeks ago.
Not the most successfull effort, mainly because of time constraints. The wood we were burning was mostly new cut and consequently a bit wet. As we only had 24 hours to accomplish our burn the amount of good charcoal was limited, considering the size of the clamp [approx 4 feet high..... maybe 4-5 feet in diameter]
Basically we dug a shallow [6"] pit, and stacked split wood into a mound in the middle of it, leaving a hole in the middle. Then we covered the mound with pre-cut turf and stopped the gaps with earth before putting a large amount of burning kindling into the central mound-hole. Once it was well alight, we covered the top and sat there watching it [for safety] for 24 hours before we had to break it apart, before time. Apparently when the smoke changes colour the burn is complete, which had not happened when we reached the end of our weekend. An interesting experiment, and one which I am keen to repeat, hopefully with a little more success next time.
