Cross Country Products, Ltd. is based on Altyre Estate, near Forres, Scotland. Amidst the splendour of local woodlands is the customised one-man workshop where these unique products are created. Young birchwood is the primary resource for the quirky pens, pencils, and whistle calls. Birch regenerates naturally. In order to give the main crop species more space and light, the birch is respaced, leaving the better stems to grow. This creates a diverse habitat for local flora and fauna whilst simultaneously increasing the value of the remaining woodland.

​

Betula pendula, also known as "The Lady of the Woods" offers a delightful variation of bark, from almost white to a deep, rich brown. The variation in this sustainably sourced material means that no two Cross Country Products are exactly alike, and there’s no-one else in the UK making anything like them.

​

Wood is basically carbon. Trees use CO2 from the atmosphere to grow during the day, and release oxygen at night. When wood is used in construction, furniture, and even bird calls, the carbon is stored until the product breaks down naturally or is burnt. Burning wood releases the CO2, however, trees that are felled are replaced by young trees that utilise at least as much CO2 as the burning releases. So, at worst, burning wood is carbon neutral and storing wood is a carbon sink, and therefore beneficial.

​

Where feasible, everything about Cross Country Products is  locally or UK sourced, and is either reusable or recyclable, even down to the biodegradable packaging. The ethos of the business is based upon sustainable materials, local resources, enhancing the local woodlands, and supporting the natural local environment.

                    

“Words, Birds, Wine, and Cricket”

Gerry Cross is the creator behind Cross Country Products, Ltd. A country boy, born and bred, Gerry’s love for nature, birds, and the outdoors has shaped the core of his working life. Gerry has had a significant impact on the landscape over the years through his ground-breaking work in forestry management – literally changing the content of Ordnance Survey maps of Ross-shire with substantial plantations of native woodlands. He estimates that he’s been directly responsible for the planting and growing of approximately 10 million trees in North Scotland, one of his proudest achievements.

​

It was this vast experience with the local woodlands plus the life-changing experience of a quintuple bypass in 2000 that led Gerry on the path to self-employment and Cross Country Products: Ironically, being highly successful in forestry management meant less time spent outdoors watching birds (and Tornados), where he and his dog much preferred to be.

 

A chance meeting at the Aviemore Trade Fair in 2003 led Gerry to source wood for, and later become the sole woodworker behind Flights of Fancy; a company selling eco-products with an educational, fun and rustic theme. When Flights of Fancy sold their business in 2017, Gerry built a studio in the curtilage of his home in order to continue supplying the new parent company. His commute to work is all of eighteen steps, and he marvels at his good fortune of loving the work that he does, describing self-employment as one of his best decisions. He makes between 25,000 and 40,000 pieces a year – to date, he estimates there to be half a million of his pieces around the world.

​

Gerry is proud to be delivering his hand-made, one-of-a-kind products (which include novelty pens, pencils, and whistles) to you directly, giving everyone the opportunity to summon a Haggis, chatter to a blackbird, or write notes, sketch and whistle with pieces of Scotland’s most visually diverse and beautiful Silver birchwood.