Sadly, interest waned and it appears that Stan may go down in history as Sevenoaks' last great charcoal burner.

The photograph above was taken by Gordon Anckorn in the days when the industry thrived.

It shows a dome-shaped mound, or pit, of stripped oak logs stacked around a triangular wooden chimney about to be ignited. The mount was covered by straw and the chimney filled with kindling.

These particular charcoal burners worked at Pilot Wood, Shoreham. They reduced the oak to carbon by a controlled burning, which lasted several days, and then sold it for the manufacture of gunpowder and for burning with draught.

It was also the chief fuel used in blast furnaces, as well as glassmaking, blacksmithing and metal working.