Tuesday 20 February 2007

THE GROWING GLADE


Saturday 17th and Monday 19th February 2007

The past couple of visits have seen good progress expanding the glade’s length; it now reaches to the fence on the south side of the wood. As well as felling trees, this has also involved clearing more of the wood felled by previous owners and trimming back some young regrowth from coppice stools. One of the next jobs will be to make the glade wider, while preserving a few selected trees within it (a large birch and a couple of relatively young oaks). On a walk round the wood we clear back some young growth and brambles to give a more defined, easier to follow path* to the east of the wood, we’ve also cleared a path* from the entrance to the glade. We set up a cheap tarpaulin (from eBay) to provide a dry store for the firewood as it seasons. As well as helping with the glade, Granddad clears some old dead coppice stools and has made us some bird-boxes turned from some of the chestnut that we’ve felled. We see a squirrel, 2 red admirals and a pheasant (there are a lot of pheasants along the local lanes). The bluebells are pushing up green shoots all over so we are looking forward to a colourful spring show.


* well, we say path, it’s really just a route that avoids getting snagged on branches and brambles.

Sunday 4 February 2007

FROM PLANS TO PROGRESS

Saturday 3rd February 2007

Tidying up the work done last time on the glade, logging the trees felled and also those that were felled by previous owners; granddad joins us to help with the work. Not the most exciting day but probably the most progress we’ve made, you can now see that we are making a difference and it will be great when the coming months’ growth and sunshine bring a new richness to the glade. Logs from the newly felled trees are stacked for firewood, while those of older felled trees are stacked as habitat piles.

Saturday 27th January 2007

Following the FC visit and considering how much work there is to do, I have invested in a chainsaw (and some safety gear of course). This is the saw’s 1st outing, felling some trees to start developing the glade. Using it I appreciate the benefits of spending the extra to get a professional quality saw (Stihl MS240) rather than the more affordable one I almost bought (although my bank balance isn’t too sure!). Ceinach, Ranger and their kids visit us and its great to get some advice and share ideas with them. A wonder around the wood highlights the benefit of clearing some paths (which we hadn’t done). There are deer tracks on the wayleave and the bluebell shoots are starting to push through the leaf litter in Sulis’ Gill. Ranger and Tom light our 1st fire in the wood, a small but significant mark of progress.