Sunday 11th May is the group’s latest Open Day.

 Although the wood is always open, this is a great opportunity to see exactly what goes on here, why it’s done, and what it achieves for nature. That’s quite a lot. The wood is home to unusual species such as the great crested newt, the wild service tree, herb paris, and the white admiral butterfly. Over a hundred wild flowers and sixty types of bird live here. And this is just the time of year to see some of them.

A number of guided walks will be laid on to make sure you see the best features of the wood, led by volunteers who have worked in the wood for years. On these walks you can see how the work of the group helps nature to diversify and flourish. And there will be lots of displays and leaflets to add detail to what you’ve seen, with people from the group and the Woodland Trust to answer your questions.

But the emphasis this year will be on the work that’s done in the wood.  Work it may be, but it’s also great fun – and good for mind and body, too.

Some of the work is heavy and noisy! There’ll be a pair of heavy horses pulling oak logs out of the high forest. And there’ll be a pair of volunteers slicing these into planks and posts with specially adapted chainsaws. Lots of noise and sawdust.  And cheap timber, too.  Shame you can’t have a go with these chainsaws, but you can try practically everything else!

This year’s coppice has just been finished, but we have kept back a lot of the material to show you what we make from it. This is our bread and butter, and if you need beansticks and other things for the garden, this could be the place to get it.

The group owns all the tools used by the old woodmen. They are simple, effective, easy to use and mostly very safe.  Some are ideal for children – who can become instantly addicted!

 We’ll following the path of hoary old logs to dainty chair legs by:

• Sawing them with a six-foot crosscut saw
• Splitting them with hammer and wedges
• Peeling them with a drawknife
• Shaping them on a shave horse
• Turning them on a pole lathe

Children  can do all of this except use the six-foot saw. And whether their efforts are crowned with glory or look like something the dog got hold of,  they can take it home as a terrible warning....

Things start at 11am and winds down at 4pm. Pepper Wood is near Fairfield. To get there, follow the A491 from J4 of the M5 to Stoneybridge Roundabout.Take first exit, and drive through Fairfield to a mini-roundabout. Here turn right turn right in to Bournheath Road and then straight on along Brook Road following this to a steep hill and to a T-junction with Dordale Road. Turn right, and the wood is on the right after 300 yards. Car parking will be clearly signposted.