Who We Are

We are a group of volunteers who are interested in woodland management and in using it to preserve wildlife and increase species diversity. Whilst we all cooperate on the most essential tasks, smaller groups also pursue common interests such as recording bird life, hedge laying footpath improvement. and the flower and animals of the wood. There are probably about twenty five of us; it’s difficult to be precise with a very informal structure. Some people are seen several times a month others a few times a year. All their efforts are highly valued, and new volunteers are always very welcome. The difference between our aspirations and our achievements is nearly always a matter of how many pairs of hands are available.

What We Do

The work of the wood is cyclical. The woodland year begins in Autumn, when coppicing starts This ends in late April, by which time most of the material cut in the preceding months has been sold or taken from the coppice for further conversion, and the coppice itself fenced to keep out deer.

Coppicing consists of cutting timber at regular intervals – eightyears in our case. Everything is cut to ground level except a few selected trees, or standards, which are left to grow on to maturity, benefitting from the greatly increased space and light.  Most of the trees that are felled quickly send up new shoots, and by the time the area is coppiced again, it consists of a mass of new trunks up to twenty feet in length.  During the regeneration period, the natural habitat changes completely; from open ground favouring grasses and flowering plants to dense thickets giving cover to birds and animals. Given eight different coppiced areas, each at a different stage of regeneration, the total variation in habitat in the wood is immense, and will remain so as long as the cycle is maintained. 

Work starts with clearing undergrowth using slashers and sickles.  After that, the smaller timber is cut to ground level with saws, loppers and billhooks, and is trimmed and stacked for later use.  At this stage the main species to be felled are birch, rowan and hazel, the latter especially prized for its flexibility and ease of splitting.Whatever cannot be used is stacked in long straight piles and left to rot down, providing as it does so cover for birds, small animals and snakes, and food for many of the insects and larvae on which they feed. 

Summer is the time for making things: timber is converted to usable objects such as fencing stakes and rails and rustic garden furnishings. This introduces new techniques and tools.  The main material is green oak, which needs to be split with wedges and hammers, peeled and smoothed with the draw-knife, and pointed with the axe or Yorkshire billhook.

Summer is also the time when hedges are laid, paths improved, scrub cleared, and ditches dug out. Work on footpaths is extremely varied: cutting back invading branches, laying wooden walkways, clearing and revetting ditches and laying hedges.  The aim is to give public access to the best of the wood whilst minimising their impact on its wildlife.

Summer, with its slower pace of work, passes all too soon, and before you know it it's September and time to start coppicing again!