English forests produce the finest pippy oak in the world. The open nature of our woodlands, hedgerows and parks allows easy light penetration which encourages ‘epicormic growth’ on the main trunks of the trees. These growths, which look like tumours on the outside, can sometimes consume the whole trunk, creating one big ball of burr. The growths penetrate deep into the heart wood of the tree and when cut perpendicularly to the direction of travel, they appear as cat’s paws or patches of burr on the board.