When I was in Wales working on the roof my friend text me and said they had some Yew down in the last storm and would it be any good for anything before they log it for firewood.
I had been just making an arch from Sweet chestnut for a magazine article for Woodcraft Magazine so had been getting into cleaving my own timber. I consulted Woodland Crafts In Britain by H.L Edlin and it said -
"It is very durable out of doors, and old tree trunks are still cleft or hewn into fence posts that are claimed, with good reason, to outlast iron."
So I decided it was probably worth a go!