Wooden deck chairs can be made from a variety of types of timber, but in our opinion beech is best. Around a quarter of the world’s deciduous trees grow in central Europe and the most common tree is beech. Unlike many tropical woods, European beech can easily be verified as coming from sustainable forests maintained in an environmentally-friendly way and therefore makes ecological sense. And there is more beech currently being planted than is being harvested.

Beech is also an extraordinarily versatile wood, suitable for any number of purposes. Its use can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome, where it was used to make chariots, and today beech is used to makes things ranging from children’s toys to bedroom furniture and of course fine wooden deckchairs.

Polycotton. The horizontal cotton thread, the weft, is woven through vertical polyethylene thread, the warp, to give a cotton texture but with the added strength that only synthetic fibre can bring. However, despite being hard wearing, it is not intended to be left out in the rain for prolonged periods.

We have thought long and hard about the virtues of polycotton vs pure cotton. It’s a difficult call. These fabrics are 19% polythene, which is a non-renewable material and therefore bad for the environment. However, polycotton is very hard wearing which means that the lifetime of the canvas is considerably longer. We’ll let you choose.