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For some, Monty Python’s Lumberjack Song is an iconic piece of British humour.
But – for Britain’s champion female ‘lumberJills’- the sport has moved so far from the hunky sterotype mocked by the sketch group.<br>This weekend the group will be preparing for the second-ever Women’s Timbersports Championships, where the country’s best battle it out with axes and chainsaws.<br>Thought to be the epitome of a masculine profession, the sport has been driving to become more inclusive – as women are welcomed into the countryside clubs.<br>Far from outraged Mounties leaving as a husky Michael Palin sings about his exploits in ‘high heels, suspenders and a bra’ – the modern-day event even sees male and female lumberjacks competing together in combined events.<br>One – the Jack and Jill – sees a man and a woman on either side of a big, double-handed saw. <br> Sarah Cox, who first tried the sport two years ago before being brought to her local club by a friend from work <br> The very first show was held last year and Sarah – who runs the recycling department at a soft drinks company – went home with the bronze medal<br> The modern-day event even sees male and female lumberjacks competing together in combined events.

Pictured: Sarah Cox doing the Jack and Jill<br> Sarah Cox, who first tried the sport two years ago, has previously mastered skydiving, aerial acrobatics and boxing – before being brought to her local club by a friend from work.<br>The 42-year-old, from Llandinan, Wales, said: ‘It’s quite a masculine sport – people look at axes and chainmail and it is what you would classically associate with men rather than women. <br>’But then I think a lot of people forget a lot of the roots of, say, during the war when you had the lumberJills doing all those kinds of jobs as well. <br>’In a way it’s a nod to people like that – I’d love to think that the women like that are not being forgotten and that spirit is being kept alive through it.<br>’It’s quite a strange environment because everyone’s very friendly.

It’s not like a lot of sports where people are completely and utterly competitive, and your competitor is your enemy. <br>’It’s more like people are trying to help each other out, give each other tips. It’s a very friendly and inviting sport. <br>’You start to know people from around the world – it’s like you’ve got a worldwide family.

Everybody’s got that thing in common. <br>’You get people from all walks of life doing it but it’s generally people who just like the outdoors and a bit of adventure.'<br> Daredevil Sarah has previously mastered skydiving, aerial acrobatics and boxing<br> Dee Hardwick at the British Women’s Championship in 2022 with fellow lumberJill Cat Eccles<br> Cat Eccles, 42 and Justine Narusa, 33, compete in the Underhand Chop a the British Women’s Championships last year<br>The idea of a lumberJill is not new – in the Second World War the Women’s Timber Corps used the nickname in a bid to releave the shortage of imported timber after the German invasion of Norway.<br>Hosted by chainsaw company Stihl, the championship this at the Royal Three Counties Show on Sunday, June 18 will see modern lumberJills battling it out in three disciplines – the Stock Saw, Single Buck and Underhand Chop.<br>The very first show was held last year and Sarah – who runs the recycling department at a soft drinks company – went home with the bronze medal.<br>She continued: ‘To be a part of the first one – that was amazing. <br>’I went into that not really caring about where I came, but just to be part of history for the first Women’s British Championship was amazing. <br>’And to see this year how everyone I competed with has come on, how we’ve all grown, how we’ve grown together – and to see the new women that are coming up and giving it a go as well. <br>’It’s absolutely brilliant to be welcoming more people into it.’ <br>The extreme series – which has its roots in a bet between two loggers in Tasmania, Australia – marked its 35th anniversary in 2020 and has branches across the world.<br>Dee Hardwick, a theatre support worker at Kidderminster Hospital, laughed as she described the typical lumberjack wearing check shirts and jeans.<br> Dee Hardwick, a theatre support worker at Kidderminster Hospital, decided to give the sport a go after buying and selling chainsaws while furloughed over lockdown<br> A keen rugby player who has also played hockey and raced motorbikes, the 45-year-old from Reddich says views towards women’s sports have changed dramatically since the 2012 Olympics<br>She and her friends are dressing up in the style as a joke for her upcoming hen do. <br>A keen rugby player who has also played hockey and raced motorbikes, the 45-year-old from Reddich says views towards women’s sports have changed dramatically since the 2012 Olympics – and particularly groundbreaking campaigns by Team GB’s cycling and hockey teams.<br>So – when she started buying and selling chainsaws while furloughed over lockdown – she decided to give it a go.<br>She said: ‘The boys are so friendly.

There are no egos. They want women to compete – they know that is the future of the sport. They’re very supportive.<br>’We want to prove to men that we can do it.<br>’My partner is amazing. She’s a policewoman and she thinks it’s absolutely bonkers, but comes along and supports and has actually started doing it herself. <br>’There are some fantastic women out doing this fantastic work.

And they are being treated as equals. That’s the great thing about the sport.<br>’I’ve made some cracking best friends from this.'<br>

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