Training Centre Location – Find Us

Our training centre is located in the heart of Kent, Weald Village, Sevenoaks, and is a leading centre of excellence for all forestry and arboriculture training.

You will receive joining instructions and a map with full address details once you have booked your course.

Please call the office 01732 811162 should you need further information.

November 2024 - The most amazingly 4-week combination arb-training! First day we had a total shock, when our knowledgeable instructor Bill started firing technical name...

November 2024 - The most amazingly 4-week combination arb-training!
First day we had a total shock, when our knowledgeable instructor Bill started firing technical names of bits that make a chainsaw tick. We had an evening to go over it, and on Tuesday morning Bill continued with even more technical bits. However, we all learnt to take a chainsaw apart, name everything, sharpen the chain, clean it and put it back together. Then we moved on to a chainsaw cold start, on one of the coldest days of the year. It was very, very difficult to get that blooming thing kick in. There's a whole sequence of actions you have to do, in an awkward position, with terribly uncomfortable chainsaw gloves too. When the saw is ticking, you’re ready for the safety checks. After that, you are ready to roll with a warm start. Don't forget the visor must be down. I/ we, kept forgetting. Learning the Basic tree inspection was more about looking and discussing and Bill was right; it completely changed the way we see trees. Wood chipper course was relaxed too, it utilised greatly what we had already learnt about chainsaws.
Second week was all about felling trees. Big boys\' playground. We panicked every time our infinitely patient instructor Mike showed us a new cut we had to learn. We learnt from our mistakes. Everything has to be precise. When you go off a little or don't hold the saw just right, god forbid don't do a parallel cut with an almost perfect 10% hinge, you can lose the control of the tree. D cut through his hinge and the holding wood. I just had time to yell 'No! Run!' not that he heard me, with his ear defenders on, the chainsaw screaming. The tree spun in the opposite direction and started coming on top of his head. He looked up and held his arm up like the Greek God Atlas, and then had the sense to get out of there. I got my saw stuck in a tree a few times, and also caused a little 'barber chair'. Nothing tragic, but if you want to see something incredible, type barber chair tree on YouTube and watch a big tree practically explode. There\'s a specific cut that prevents the scary timber explosion, the Dog tooth cut. We practised it over and over, on coppice trees, that had to be processed afterwards - cut to 3m logs and tidied onto piles. We also practised on logs tied to trees, over and over, until I could barely lift my chainsaw. We did this for four days, learning new cuts every day. Our favourite was scary and complicated but fancy-looking Danish pie cut.
Week three was all about climbing trees and practising aerial rescues, with our wonderfully mad instructor Jamie who looked after us for two weeks. We started on two tall looking oaks, then graduated onto two massive, majestic royal oaks, about 50 feet high. We all had to learn to trust our gear, which started to be more difficult half way up, and even more so as we reached the very top.
We also learnt to use spikes and pass our little bravery tests-changeovers. It wasn’t easy to chill when the whole tree moved with the breeze; again, we had to learn to trust the gear. Also, it was comforting to know that however freezing cold you were climbing up the tree, you would be sweating on the way down.
Last three days were about using a chainsaw from ropes and harness. We started by hanging about half a metre above the ground, practising working on a branch that wouldn't support our weight. We had to use a side strop to strap ourselves onto it AND start our chainsaw AND do a little cut. Gosh, the first time doing it was pretty impossible. Third time round was almost ok. After just about half an hour of 'play', we were exhausted but made progress, which, Jamie told us, was exactly the purpose of the exercise. The next day we climbed higher up and practised the same thing in a much easier scenario, Jamie promised. He was, as usual, right.
When we shook hands at the end of our last assessment, there were lots of emotions. The end of a wonderful, one month learning journey, that was tough but rewarding, with the best possible instructors and a fun group of buddies one could have hoped for. I am eternally thankful.

Erika

January 07, 2025

Great course, very knowledgable and friendly trainers.

Bob

October 31, 2024

Instructors were top class. Ensured all aspects of the course were consolidated leaving me confident for each assessment. Great place and people! - CS39 Aerial Cutting Course�...

Leo

September 17, 2024

I recently took the Lantra PTI with Kingswood Training and found the course very informative and well taught. The whole process of registering was smooth and easy thanks to th...

Farid Nainia

July 30, 2024

As a complete beginner in the industry, whom had never used a power tool, I found the course to be incredibly well taught. Great detail given without being overwhelming, and t...

Ryan Patrick

June 07, 2024

The climbing instructor - Quentin - was very helpful and patient and understanding of the fact I was a novice

Connor

May 20, 2024

I thought it was really well prepared and interesting chainsaw course

Jordan

May 20, 2024

Very informative and relaxed, Robin was very polite and aware of peoples level of understanding

David

May 20, 2024

Brilliant, really enjoyed the climbing course. Jamie is a great instructor.

Karl

March 21, 2024

I was happy with using a chipper beforehand but during the course I learnt a lot of new things so overall a good experience and really helpful. Thank you.

Harrison

March 21, 2024

Very informative and well structured Woodchipper course, learnt heaps.

Charles

March 15, 2024

I thought it was an interesting course. I learnt a lot about how to use a chipper machine correctly and I feel I will be able to do it right. The instructor; Mike was helpf...

Oliver

March 15, 2024

Great climbing course and very satisfied with what I learnt. Will be coming back for more courses. Great instructor; Jamie, who is good at what he does. Would recommend....

Jack

March 08, 2024

I thought the course was very interesting and it showed many different situations for being able to demonstrate and use various techniques for felling.

Harry

March 07, 2024

Excellent, really thorough with loads of time to practice all aspects of climbing relevant to CS38 course. Instructor Jamie was very good - always knew what was happening w...

Andy

March 05, 2024

Good course. Great exposure to felling with a lot of hands on experience.

Sam

March 05, 2024

Great place for training, was recommended to take my course here by a work colleague. I have done the CS30/CS31, would definitely recommend training here to anyone starting th...

Jack

January 23, 2024

Excellent course at venue with good facilities.

Ian Roberts

November 21, 2023

I really enjoyed the course. The trainer and office staff were all very helpful and knowledgeable. I had ZERO experience and passed both the courses I took. I ha...

Rob sharp

November 16, 2023

Great courses in chainsaw use. Great instructors.

Philip Mearns

November 14, 2023

A full week attending the 201/202 with Jim (saw maintenance cross cut and felling ) superb week made to feel really welcome and looked after, so much knowledge built in a week...

Mark

October 28, 2023

Absolutely fantastic tree climbing and aerial rescue course with Jamie. All staff amazing and a really inclusive environment. Would recommend to anyone nervous about starting ...

Charlie Wiles

October 20, 2023

Really enjoyed the course as it was fun but informative. Jamie is a super nice dude and helped me to feel confident about what I was doing which meant I did things quite qu...

Will

August 25, 2023

Built my confidence and helped me understand all of the cuts I could use for felling so I am happy to use a saw in different situations. The trainers were really helpful an...

Alex

June 09, 2023

Well presented and engaging course

Luke Blanchard

May 05, 2023

I had recently started a firewood processing business and required the Tree Felling and Chainsaw qualification; I had spent two months searching various providers online and b...

Winston Douglas

September 23, 2022

Where do I start….from the moment I arrived it felt like a close nit family as everyone was so lovely, genuine and very welcoming for what is a big step in a direction you m...

Dan Wilton

September 16, 2022

We had 2 delegates on the aerial rigging course and they were really impressed with the course. They said it was excellent, informative and enjoyable.

AG Treecare Ltd

September 05, 2022

Highly recommend Kingswood training from the booking with Michelle was so smooth. To the training with Matt was excellent very nice guy and so helpful. Through t...

Haydn Ross

February 13, 2022

Just successfully completed an aerial climbing and rescue course and couldn't be more happy with my experience. I had fun but more importantly I learned and gained a very usef...

Marcus

February 05, 2022

4-week Combined Arb course I’d like like to start by saying I’ve been on many training courses across many industries and I’m not one for le...

Paul Andrews

February 01, 2022

Another thank you to yourself, Tony and the rest of the team for another interesting and informative (and fun) course today.

Paul D

February 01, 2022

I attended a combined CS30/CS31 (maintenance and cross-cutting, felling small trees) course in November 2021 and was very pleased with how it went. The instructo...

Mark W

December 01, 2021

Recently completed my Aerial Rescue at Kingswood. Michele, Pat and Tony were incredible, from the booking process which was so smooth and efficient, the training and assessmen...

Colin Bennett

April 30, 2021

I signed on to the Kingswood Training 4 week combination arborist tree surgery course in April 2021 and it was a well run professional and enjoyable experience from the start....

Paul Matheson

April 28, 2021

Just completed CS39 great course and excellent instruction as always , the team always go above and beyond to help , hopefully be back soon

Chris Hawkesford

April 27, 2021

Had such a great week with Kingswood! Trainer (David) couldn’t of been more thorough with all the information for the assessment! The assessor (Tony) was so reassuring and p...

James draper

April 27, 2021

Pat, Dave, Matt and Tony were all fantastic, great communication skills, very approachable and keen to help me improve, really knew their stuff and very capable of explaining ...

Stephen Duff

December 14, 2020

Very good course; excellent and experienced instructor (David Hills), good area to work in and learnt a lot during the week. Good mixture of learning new techniques and also h...

David Watson

December 14, 2020

I chose Kingswood's 4 week combination course as it seemed to be the quickest way to train for and take my qualifications. I wasn't particularly looking forward to the course ...

Charlotte

December 14, 2020

Attended the 3 day Professional Tree Inspection course November 2020. Extremely well organised and first rate communication. The course was delivered in an enjoyable, safe and...

David Lock

December 08, 2020

Just completed the CS30/31 , very professional well run course , top instructor, looking forward to doing my CS38 , would definitely recommend doing your courses with these gu...

Chris Hawkesford

September 27, 2020

Everybody around was very kind and helpful. I really enjoyed this course!!

Balazs Czene

June 18, 2020

I attended the Combined 5 Day – Chainsaw Maintenance & Felling Small Trees (201,202 & 203) in June 2020. My instructor David was incredibly knowledgeable and worked hard, ma...

Alasdair

June 16, 2020

I would like the thank the whole team for the great two weeks I had with you at kings wood training. You all made me feel welcomed and were all soo friendly and helpful....

Kilian Ernst

June 13, 2020

Myself and a colleague attended the CS38 tree climbing and aerial rescue course and could not have asked for anything more from Kingswood. The course instructor (Patrick) was ...

Rory Roche

March 04, 2020

Many thanks to all the team for getting me through my first chainsaw course, special thanks to michelle for letting me do the recap and to tony for getting me through the prac...

Luke Holman

February 29, 2020

Completed cs30/31 with Jim back in may last year, he was extremely knowledgeable and had a great taste in music... I was so happy with the course that i paid to come back and ...

Jake

February 20, 2020

In January 2020 I completed NPTC Units 201/202/203. My instructor was very thorough, knowledgeable and he motivated us to work hard. The facilities for maintenan...

James Bentley

January 20, 2020

Hi Michele, Good to meet you today. I just wanted to say I really enjoyed the BTI course today, Tony was great. I\'d like to build up to the PTI but feel I need to do a...

John

January 16, 2020

Phone: +44 (0) 1732 811162

Training Centre Location – Find Us