take the log for a walk

When arriving near our hotel in Edinburgh two weeks ago, we were dragging our luggage and walking across the road. I spotted this man on the pavement, dragging something behind him. When taking a closer look I saw that he was dragging a big log, roughly cut. This was most of the trunk of a tree and he had this on a rope, pulling it down the side of the road.

Why does he do this? Where is he going? Why is he transporting this log at all?

All I know is that I put down the luggage and grabbed my camera. Here is one shot I like of it.