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Description
"You can take a woodcutter out of the forest, but you can’t take the forest out of the woodcutter.
Cecil Lancaster was one of many lumberjacks hired by the Ingestre Forestry Company in the early 1980s and became one of their longest serving. He was a diligent and hard working man who took to the job with enthusiasm, loving the outdoor work whatever the weather. Every morning Cecil and his team would head out to one of the company’s sites within Gloomy Wood using a local narrow gauge railway. This railway line was not only their ride to and from work every day, but thanks to negotiations with the Forestry it became the method of transporting the timber back to Ingestre, where it would then be taken to the saw mills and beyond.

The Forestry’s fortunes began to decline when the railway was forced to close due to spiralling maintenance costs, safety concerns and the increasing number of mysterious happenings due to the supernatural nature of Gloomy Wood. Unable to properly access areas deeper in the woods, the company opted to focus on their remaining sites around the edges. This truly was the beginning of the end though, as they began having more and more difficulties transporting the timber. The Ingestre Forestry Company finally declared bankruptcy in 2003 and the remaining workers were forced to look for work elsewhere. Cecil rather begrudgingly got a desk job at a soap manufacturer, but his passion for woodcutting never left him. He would still take freelance work felling trees for locals, just getting to relive his glory days for brief moments and savouring every swing of his axe. On occasion he would return to the old logging sites to do the same, but he never stayed long, not knowing who might still be around…

Cecil’s age began to catch up to him. He began finding it harder to swing the axe over the years and his medical conditions began to cause him more trouble. Ultimately he was told that he would need to go to the mainland to receive specialist treatment. Leaving his desk job behind him and making the difficult decision to retire from woodcutting, he decided that the last thing he would do before he left the island would be to cut down one final tree at his old camp, within Gloomy Wood.
Cecil set out early one morning, the day before he was due to sail out. Walking along the old trackbed he was saddened by how overgrown it had all become but he was still able to press on through the woods, ignoring the whisperings he could hear from the depth of the woods. Eventually he arrived at one of the camps, the very first one he had started at. What couldn’t be salvaged and taken back to Ingestre had been left to rot, but he tried to ignore this. He soon found the chosen tree - knowing that its timber would simply be left on the forest floor, Cecil had decided not to cut down a healthy tree, and the ash tree he had found looked particularly dead to him. He set to work, swinging the axe as he had done some thirty years prior, making the most of his last moments as a lumberjack. Within half an hour the tree had fallen with a large cloud of dust rising from the ground. Satisfied, Cecil made the long journey back to civilisation and prepared for his trip back to the mainland. As he left Alton Island the next day, he had no idea what he had accidentally unleashed upon Gloomy Wood…"

It's been a long time coming. A VERY long time coming. But I've now finished drawing all of the characters I designed back in 2013. I now have no more characters to draw portraits for, not until I design a new batch. With Alton Towers' opening day coming up next weekend, and with a brand new roller coaster to try, that new batch won't be very far off...
I really like Cecil's design. He may have gotten on in years (indeed my original drawing of him showed him looking much younger) he still has what it takes to do his job. I did what I could to make him look older but the general look is still there. Sure I've never been a fan of log flumes and I only rode this one once in 2007, but I the character quite a bit.
I'm also quite pleased with the background in this one. We've seen the depths of Gloomy Wood twice now, by day and by night, and it is certainly not an inviting place.

Alton Island © Matt Lindsay

Description
"You can take a woodcutter out of the forest, but you can’t take the forest out of the woodcutter.
Cecil Lancaster was one of many lumberjacks hired by the Ingestre Forestry Company in the early 1980s and became one of their longest serving. He was a diligent and hard working man who took to the job with enthusiasm, loving the outdoor work whatever the weather. Every morning Cecil and his team would head out to one of the company’s sites within Gloomy Wood using a local narrow gauge railway. This railway line was not only their ride to and from work every day, but thanks to negotiations with the Forestry it became the method of transporting the timber back to Ingestre, where it would then be taken to the saw mills and beyond.

The Forestry’s fortunes began to decline when the railway was forced to close due to spiralling maintenance costs, safety concerns and the increasing number of mysterious happenings due to the supernatural nature of Gloomy Wood. Unable to properly access areas deeper in the woods, the company opted to focus on their remaining sites around the edges. This truly was the beginning of the end though, as they began having more and more difficulties transporting the timber. The Ingestre Forestry Company finally declared bankruptcy in 2003 and the remaining workers were forced to look for work elsewhere. Cecil rather begrudgingly got a desk job at a soap manufacturer, but his passion for woodcutting never left him. He would still take freelance work felling trees for locals, just getting to relive his glory days for brief moments and savouring every swing of his axe. On occasion he would return to the old logging sites to do the same, but he never stayed long, not knowing who might still be around…

Cecil’s age began to catch up to him. He began finding it harder to swing the axe over the years and his medical conditions began to cause him more trouble. Ultimately he was told that he would need to go to the mainland to receive specialist treatment. Leaving his desk job behind him and making the difficult decision to retire from woodcutting, he decided that the last thing he would do before he left the island would be to cut down one final tree at his old camp, within Gloomy Wood.
Cecil set out early one morning, the day before he was due to sail out. Walking along the old trackbed he was saddened by how overgrown it had all become but he was still able to press on through the woods, ignoring the whisperings he could hear from the depth of the woods. Eventually he arrived at one of the camps, the very first one he had started at. What couldn’t be salvaged and taken back to Ingestre had been left to rot, but he tried to ignore this. He soon found the chosen tree - knowing that its timber would simply be left on the forest floor, Cecil had decided not to cut down a healthy tree, and the ash tree he had found looked particularly dead to him. He set to work, swinging the axe as he had done some thirty years prior, making the most of his last moments as a lumberjack. Within half an hour the tree had fallen with a large cloud of dust rising from the ground. Satisfied, Cecil made the long journey back to civilisation and prepared for his trip back to the mainland. As he left Alton Island the next day, he had no idea what he had accidentally unleashed upon Gloomy Wood…"

It's been a long time coming. A VERY long time coming. But I've now finished drawing all of the characters I designed back in 2013. I now have no more characters to draw portraits for, not until I design a new batch. With Alton Towers' opening day coming up next weekend, and with a brand new roller coaster to try, that new batch won't be very far off...
I really like Cecil's design. He may have gotten on in years (indeed my original drawing of him showed him looking much younger) he still has what it takes to do his job. I did what I could to make him look older but the general look is still there. Sure I've never been a fan of log flumes and I only rode this one once in 2007, but I the character quite a bit.
I'm also quite pleased with the background in this one. We've seen the depths of Gloomy Wood twice now, by day and by night, and it is certainly not an inviting place.

Alton Island © Matt Lindsay