Ewar Woowar

Swings and Roundabouts

2011-08-03T13:29:00.003+01:00

After being led to believe (by the council) that permitted development approval for the shelter was just a cheque and form away, and after several months of follow-up to-ing and fro-ing, we have been forced to take down the shelter. Very annoying especially as they seemed to say one thing then pointed to something else. Advice for anyone else planning to build a shelter or whatever in their wood; provide evidence of what you are using the wood for (even if it isn’t asked for in the form) such as copy of woodland management plan and photos of work done; don’t assume what the council tells you is the whole story (we were told one thing in letter, but there was info filed online that we weren’t aware of that would have clarified the situation a lot earlier). Considering the location next to a SSSI and close to a public footpath it was the right decision to go the official route rather than finish it then have to take it down; but if in a secluded non-SSSI wood with no footpath then I’d think about whether to just build something with low impact in keeping with the woods and hope for the best. The most annoying thing is not taking it down, but that it’s OK to have an ugly steel shipping container but not a small wooden shelter.

The Bongo is great, easy to drive right into the woods and very comfy to sleep in. Our visits since last posting have mostly seen us doing general management such as cutting back branches and leaning trees to keep the footpath free and controlling the bracken in the clearing so that other plants can grow and increase the diversity. We have more variety there now including hedge woundwort, buttercups, nettles and several things we don’t recognise. A big thanks to Rob for giving us the IR camera which has captured shots of rabbits, squirrels, foxes, deer and a woodcock over the past month. Deer shots tended to be from their rear so we think maybe they have a circuit route they follow; we’ll point the camera the other way and see if we get more faces than tails.

Winter’s Work

2011-02-24T13:29:00.002Z

It’s been a while since the last post but we have not been idle in the woods. A few trees at the edge of the glade have been felled and put to good use as posts for the ‘forestry shelter’ we are building. Construction was delayed by the local planners but they have now been provided with evidence that the wood is being managed for forestry and that seems to have satisfied them. This is inspired by the classic roundhouses but is unlikely to see any wattle, daub or thatch; we are building for practicality rather than reconstructing the past so plan ‘A’ will be a tarpaulin roof. A central tripod construction adds stability as well as supporting the roof timbers and doubles as somewhere to work with the fro that Santa Claus bought (he also bought an axe, both made by the elves at Grandfors). The fro will be really useful in splitting wood for walls and roof supports, and maybe sometime in the future we’ll supplement the tarpaulin with some chestnut shingles. We have also bought a Mazda Bongo which is a 4x4 camper van, so we now have more room for bringing stuff to/from the woods as well as having some weekends away.

So long summer, its September

2010-09-27T19:28:00.002+01:00

Back to the woods again and, no surprise, the bracken has flourished; so second job was giving that a bashing. Then it was raked into piles so we could see if we’d missed any. Although the bracken is still strong there are other plants competing well with it including grass and some flowering plants that we haven’t yet identified. So hopefully if we keep up with the brushcutting there will be a better balance to suit the butterflies and other wildlife. First job was as usual to walk the woods to check all is OK and see what is about on this visit. Autumn has brought with it many fungi, from little brown jobs to glorious agarics. We also cut back brambles that were again encroaching on the path between car park and glade. While over cups of tea and soup we thought about the option of building a roundhouse and marked out where it could be sited so as not to be a visual impact on the wood s and be convenient to the glade and camp fire.

July. Stuff and Nothing

2010-07-20T19:58:00.002+01:00

We finally got the time and the weather to camp in the woods this month. It was good to be able to have more time at the woods to do stuff and do nothing too. The something included yet more bracken attack plus cutting back some bramble, while the nothing included sitting about playing guitar and mandolin, putting rails on the tree camp and attacking cans with rifle and catapult. We also cut back the overgrowth at the side of the track so we can get the car in without risk of scratching it up and this also gave a bit more light to the hedge trees we planted there. For the first time since we bought the wood we have fox gloves flowering, one in the glade and a few more in the area that was coppiced about 18 months ago. We made the most of an early morning to walk from the woods over to Bedgebury pinetum, using our sense of direction rather than a map we got there but not necessarily by the most direct route. It has been very many years since I was last there and it has been developed with new car park, a visitor centre and café, plus a bike shop. It’s a lot more popular now but has lost some of its quiet charm.

Our campfire cooking has improved with no major burning of sausages etc and the jacket spuds were perfect. There’s something about the flavour of spuds baked in a fire that can’t be beaten. Sam joined us one day and took many photos of texture etc as inspiration for his artistic talents. It was good to have a visit by Silva Energy who collected some logs and we agreed what area would be coppiced this winter. It will be good to get an area coppiced and the wood put to good use by others, but we will also be keeping an area of the wood to work on ourselves more slowly, plus there is great satisfaction in the work itself and seeing the difference that you are making.

Jungley June

2010-06-20T13:55:00.002+01:00

Having missed out on the chance to visit the woods in half term (car issues, there’s always something!) we managed to get there mid-month and the place felt quite jungley with the lush new growth of the trees (and bracken and bramble too). As normal our visit started with a walk around the wood to see what’s what before doing any work or chilling or whatever. The orchids seem to have disappeared and the bluebells flowers are long gone and replaced by seed heads now. The colours of spring are gone and the wood is now vibrant with the glorious greens of summer. We noticed some deer tracks in the mud by the stream, which is now reduced to a trickle. The wayleave isn’t as overgrown as in previous years so didn’t need any cutting back this time. Work focussed on controlling the bracken in the glade so flowering plants have a chance to get established, and completing the reopening of the track from the parking place to the glade. 1 tank of chainsaw fuel was just enough to clear and process the trees that were blocking the route of the track and level off some taller stumps. Rob turned up in his Landy which had no trouble getting along the newly cleared route, happily riding over stumps that we will probably be more cautious in negotiating in 4x4 camper if we do get one at some point. But for now the track will be handy for extracting the logs that are stacked up in the glade. Tom spent time plinking cans and attacking bracken with machete and brushcutter, while Julie also attacked bracken and did a great job of getting a fire going so we could cook sausages for lunch.

May; Blooming Lovely

2010-05-22T20:24:00.004+01:00

The bluebells were putting on a great show again. I do think we are luckier than many of us appreciate to have such beauty in our native land. You don’t have to travel the planet to see how wonderful this world is. Our time in the woods in May saw more pottering than hard work. A start was made on clearing an old 4x4 route through from the main track into the glade, another tank of chainsaw fuel should see it totally cleared and ready to allow access into the glade for collecting the stacks of logs there; and maybe sometime in the future we will get a 4x4 camper van – time will tell. The tree guards were retied to ensure the saplings had enough room to grow, all doing OK apart from 1 beech which has given up. Julie and Tom spent some time managing the bracken in the glade and the seating / camp fire area was pottered with too. Bluetits are again making use of one of the bird boxes (the same one that was used a couple of years ago). We will move the others before next spring to see if a different location encourages these to be used too. And great news; the pile of rubbish that had been getting bigger near the wood entrance has now disappeared – yay!

April, Wet and Dry

2010-04-21T18:11:00.004+01:00

The first visit in April found us driving into a very wet wood. The track was muddier than ever, not helped by being churned up by persons unknown including those who had increased the size of the rubbish pile by the entrance to the woods. Areas that have previously been, at most, damp, were more than soggy with standing or running water in some places where there was none before. It wasn’t all bad as the steam looked and sounded great with the extra flow. A couple of tasks on this visit were to tidy up the glade and attack some brambles. In the glade trees that had been felled were sawn to length and the logs stacked, the hardest part being moving 10 ft long trunks. Julie and Tom put the new brushcutter to use on some of the brambles that were growing near the path. We just got a cheapo Spear and Jackson one from Argos and its progress is slow but sure so far; easier than a machete or loppers, and cheaper (but of course less effective) than a professional machine. Another job later in the day was to push the car out of the mud.

A couple of weeks later and what was mud had mostly set hard and there was no standing water anywhere to be noticed. The sun was shining and the glade saw further tidying as piles of brash were burnt and some more logs moved to larger piles. While Tom did more debrambleficationing with the brushcutter. There were more anemones out, also primroses, violets and the first few bluebells showing their petals to the sun. The young trees are growing well and generally not getting eaten. Along the wayleave where we had in previous years seen 2 orchids, there were now about half a dozen starting to show through. Making the most of the sun shine (and the gap linking the glade to the field) we saw quite a few butterflies including a pair spiralling together.

Bleak Midwinter

2010-02-17T12:19:00.003Z

That long period of snow (remember that?), plus travelling with work and keeping balance with other things in life has meant we didn’t get to the wood as often as hoped this winter. Instead of trying to coppice another half acre, which we wouldn’t have managed, our visits have been a little more relaxed. Work has been done on widening the glade a little to allow more sunlight in to benefit the wildflowers and butterflies. We now have piles of brash to be burnt or relocated as habitat piles. Many of the birches along the way-leave were bent over from the snow and these have now been cut back to keep the way open. The trees we planted from the Kent free tree scheme are doing OK, but those that were taller than the tree guards are now the same height thanks to the local fauna. Tom has been having fun with his new catapult and has been making an impact on his targets with paintballs. A good idea as the casings are camo’ and degradable and the paint is water based so doesn’t hang around. We are now looking forward to the arrival of spring flowers and warmer (and longer) days in the wood. However work will take me away again next month, oh well, only maybe another 10 years until retirement? We may have another session widening the glade before summer and I am also planning on getting a brush cutter to tackle some of the brambles (but want to leave some for diversity).

November Blow Job

2009-12-02T17:41:00.003Z

Our first visit for a while and the main job was to check what damage had been done by the recent storms. Fortunately only 2 trees down as far as we could see. The first, a young chestnut, was soon cleared from the path. The other was the large birch in the glade that I had ring barked last winter with the intent of providing standing deadwood but is now providing leaning deadwood. Over the summer the birch had continued to grow but its leaves were smaller than the other birches so I was expecting it to die off slowly, but the weather had other ideas. Lesson learnt; if ring barking birch only cut in less than an inch (this one was cut about 2”). The storms also took the tarp of the ‘kitchen’ bender but that just needed tying back on. The stream was more full than ever and there was so much flow that it couldn’t all fit under the bridge.

We also planted more trees (like last year, these came from Kent councils free tree scheme). Some went into extending the hedgerow we planted last year by the track and creating a short hedge at the end of the glade (which we intend to lay to keep it low so it doesn’t discourage the butterflies etc from entering the glade from the field edge). We also planted a trio of wild cherry near where the path enters the glade, and a trio of ash near the parking space. This time we provided the new trees (and last year’s survivors) with guards so hopefully they will survive the attention of rabbit and deer a bit better.

August – Summers End

2009-09-01T17:27:00.002+01:00

A chilled out time in the woods this month. Spending some of the time just sitting with the trees watching the world drift by with the clouds. Plus walking through the woods and reminding myself of what is there and how lucky I am to have this place. A new sighting in the wood this month (which I would have stepped on if it hadn’t moved at the last minute) was a grass snake sunning itself on the track. I also noticed a woodpecker hole in one of the oak standards that is now in space where the surrounding chestnut was coppiced last winter. A bit late in the season I did some work for the butterflies; cutting back the trees at the south end of the glade so that butterflies flying along the edge of the field/wood can now also fly into the glade. The bright green of summer starting to mellow, my thoughts turned to the coming winter (or ‘felling season’ as I’m starting to think of it) and where to concentrate my efforts. I’m thinking that instead of coppicing another half acre (which hopefully Silva Energy will do instead) I may spend time broadening the glade, cutting back some regrowth and maybe thinning chestnut from around the indigenous trees in the central area (leaving mainly oak, birch and the few rowan that are there).

July – Back at Last

2009-08-03T12:25:00.002+01:00

After not being in the wood since early May, made up for it with 3 visits in July. Surprised to see just how much it had all grown up in just a couple of months. So the 1st job was to cut back the growth of some brambles and chestnut (that had been coppiced the year before) to re-clear the path from the parking place to the glade. Well, when I say glade, it was really a bracken forest and was starting to choke out some of the other plants that had only started to get established last summer. I did try bashing the bracken but it had grown too much, so the machete came into play and had a more significant impact. Also attacked some brambles in the glade with the loppers to start getting them under control there. The track had too much growth to drive up so the machete again saw some action hacking back the sedges that were hanging out over the track. Some of the trees planted last winter (Kent free tree scheme) were being crowded out so I also cut back around them to give them some light. Deer have also been having a munch, sometimes on these new trees and sometimes on new growth from coppice stools. One of these (an oak) has responded by growing a leaf as large as my hand (*wonders what largest oak leaf ever grown is*).

Was surprised to see what I though were ash trees were actually rowan and are now heavy with berry. The tree camps also had some work, the older one having a trim of the fresh chestnut growth that was crowding into it, the other having some more floor boards fixed on. There was also some maintenance work fixing the loo roof where a gap had appeared between two sheets of tarpaulin. The last visit of the month included a bonfire to tidy up the twiggy stuff that had been piled up from last winters coppicing.

May

2009-05-26T19:10:00.002+01:00

Started with some ‘proper work’ stacking all the remaining logs in the area coppiced last winter and also piling up the smaller stuff ready for burning (or leaving as habitat piles). Having done that it is now possible to get to the last few trees that need cutting into logs, but this didn’t get done as the tree camp was calling for attention. The floor boards that were split last time were nailed down and we split some more and fixed those too. The floor is now over half way across and it is now noticeable that one of the main supports is not quite level with the other; maybe it’ll be left rustic but it would be good if it were possible to reposition it without the whole lot falling down when I undid the fixing. The bluebells were in full bloom and the wood is beautiful.

Blooming April

2009-04-27T13:33:00.002+01:00

This month saw a little work done splitting logs to make floor boards for the new tree camp, they will need some ‘fine tuning’ to get them to sit right, but it was good to do something other than coppicing after the winter months. The bluebells are now starting to flower and look lovely sharing the woodland floor with the wood anemones. Another few weeks the wood anemones will be gone and the bluebells will dominate the wood in all their full glory. The ferns along the gill are also putting on new growth as they prepare to move from spring to summer. By the new tree camp there is a single solitary cuckooplant, something I haven’t noticed in this wood before. Up the wayleave the work keeping part of it clear is paying dividends; there are primroses, violets and bugle in flower, and the orchids spotty leaves are looking healthy. It was a cloudy day so no butterflies were venturing out, but I plan to get along on a sunny day soon to chill out and just watch them flutter by. Last summers regrowth in the 1st area coppiced is now greening up and will soon look very different. The old dead leaves and decay of the past seasons are being transformed into the lush greenness of the future and I am now looking forward to summer; new season, new life.

March – panning for gold

2009-03-25T09:52:00.002Z

More processing of the coppiced wood, it feels like a slow process when you are only there once or twice a month. In addition to that, I also did a little work to let more light into the glade by felling a few small trees at the fenceline and ring-barking a mature birch at the south end of the glade. The intention is that as well as allowing more light it will also provide some standing deadwood for the wildlife. I’ve taken a similar approach with an oak at the edge of the glade, but in this case I am experimenting with partial ring-barking. I have left about 25% of the tree’s circumference not ringed with the intention that the tree will have mostly standing deadwood and present little shade, while avoiding completely killing the tree. It is an experiment and only time will tell how successful it is.

Silva Energy visited to survey what wood we could offer them for their new bioenergy business, so if all goes well there could be an income to offset some of the expense of woodland ownership. In an effort to generate enough cash to buy himself some dog biscuits, Che has learnt how to pan for gold; see photo below.

February 2009. For Bluebells Or Brambles?

2009-03-03T13:14:00.003Z

A couple of visits this month and the coppicing is all done, we coppiced approx half an acre again this winter. Many of the felled trees have been processed, but there’s still a lot more logging and stacking to do. We can now see the trees for the wood, especially the oak standards in the coppiced area which last year were on the edge of the area, but are now standing more majestic in the open. The wood now has clear air across pretty much its full width, from the field boundary at the south, across the glade then over 2 seasons worth of coppicing to the track at the north. I will probably take out a few more trees at the south boundary to make it more open to the butterflies etc that will hopefully be making use of this space. In amongst the regrowing coppice that was felled a year ago there is a mass of brambles which should be full of flowers and blackberries later this year, so it’s an as yet unmade decision whether to attack the brambles and let more sun reach the ground (for the bluebells etc), or to leave the brambles for the benefits provided by its flowers and fruit. I may end up doing a bit of both. One thing that will be removed is the little patch of young rhododendron I spotted recently. Spring is definitely here and one of the signs is the ‘lambs tails’ on the hazel.

There have been no other thefts from the wood since the spade disappeared, which is promising. Although there were signs that someone had been in the glade, everything seamed to still be there. We are taking a risk leaving chairs etc in the bender, but don’t want to end up with paranoia spoiling enjoyment of the wood and having to lock everything away each time we leave.

January 2009. Dam it!

2009-02-05T12:40:00.001Z

A couple of visits this month and we’ve almost finished coppicing this season’s area. But apart from taking off some of the smaller branches the felled trees haven’t been processed yet, so even when we finished felling there’ll be quite a lot of work left to do logging up and stacking. This time last year it was frustrating the number of trees I was getting hung up, but this winter there has only been one that needed winching out. There were others hung up but they were small enough to drag by hand. In fact that was partly by plan; when trees were most likely to get hung up then I have been taking out all the smaller ones 1st to create more space and reduce the risk of hanging up a larger one (yep, bloody obvious when you think about it).

As well as the coppicing jobs, there has been activity down in the gill with Tom and Sam (and me too) building a small dam below what will be the new tree camp. The 1st session was just roughly putting a couple of logs across and rocks beneath, but when we visited a couple of weeks later the river had helped by filling in the gaps with twigs, leaves and silt. The stream is flowing well and as full as we’ve ever seen it. The only downer this month was our 1st unwelcome visitor activity, as the spade we had been using by the dam ‘disappeared’. We thought it would be safe as it was away from the path but we were wrong, this now raises concern about how trusting we can be with other things we leave in the wood.

Nov/Dec 08. Two Years in and Planting

2008-12-31T08:20:00.010Z

Only one visit to the wood in November due to other commitments, including a business trip to India. Both the business trip and the wood visit involved tree planting. The India trip was to audit a couple of lubricant blending plants and at the end of one visit I was honoured by planting a tree on the site. While back in Kent the county council’s free tree scheme had given us 25 trees to plant in the wood. We planted three hazels to extend their range in the gill, a beech in each of the north corners and a couple at the north edge of the glade, and 18 mixed blackthorn and hawthorn along the edge of the track. The beeches are planted to provide some great characterful trees in one or two hundred years time, while the others will have a more immediate impact including the wonderful show of white spring flowers from the thorns and the winter haws and sloes providing an additional food source.

December saw three visits to the wood with the focus on coppicing this seasons area. Progress has been quite satisfying with only one tree getting sufficiently hung up to need winching (that’s good for me!). Having owned the wood for two years now, there is still something new and this month I discovered that one of the coppice stools is of oak, the only one in our wood as far as I know. As well as helping out with a few wood jobs, Tom also spent some time on the tree camp in the glade, adding some extra rails and improvising a drum kit.

Back to Work

2008-10-27T12:14:00.002Z

With leaves and chestnuts falling around us, we started this winter’s coppicing. The plan is to do half an acre next to last winter’s coppiced area, this will then be open between the glade we are expanding and the ride/track until the new growth fills in again. I still need to pull my finger out regarding what to do with the wood that is felled, including much of last years which is still stacked up waiting to go off for firewood (did have someone collect some, but we never really got it organised properly). To open up the glade a little more a couple of oaks have been cut, one very young one coppiced and the other (30 years old, I counted the rings) pollarded at only about 4’ because it felt unsafe chainsawing above that. A length of this one has been cut, split and roughly hewn into a paddle for the coracle. I thought it would be nice to have something made from this oak, but not sure a paddle was the right choice because it’s bloody heavy. Hopefully it will be light enough once the wood has seasoned and I’ve shaved more off it. The only flowers we saw were ragwort, but there are still some interesting fungi around.

A Busy September, but not in the woods

2008-09-30T20:02:00.002+01:00

Only one visit this month as other things have been keeping us busy. I collected a boot load of firewood, but will need a few more loads to see us through this winter. Decision on the glade's oaks is that the large one at the edge will be ring barked, there was a young one (about 10 years) which I felled this month but it was growing from an older stool which has some fresh growth, the other oak in the glade will be pollarded. There are a lot more funghi now and a few unripe chestnuts on the ground. The rhododendron that was pulled up is still alive as there was lump of soil left on its roots, it has some fresh growth so it will be heading for a bonfire. I built a coracle this month but still need to make a proper seat for it and also carve a paddle, which I'll do once I've collected some suitable timber from the wood. Computer hassle means that all the photos got wiped, I've got backups for most, but September's are lost so nothing to post up here.

August; Into Autumn

2008-09-03T07:41:00.001+01:00

The signs of autumn are more noticeable with chestnuts falling in soft spined cases along with green acorns and hazel nuts. The area that was coppiced last winter has shown good growth over the summer with both the chestnut and brambles doing well (hopefully the brambles will become less vigorous as the chestnuts shade them out over the next few years). There are more fungi now ‘fruiting’, the most common seems to be earthballs which are browny yellow as they mature towards sporing (I originally thought all fungi that shape were puffballs until I bothered to look in a book, I then discovered that these were earthballs which are poisonous unlike puffballs which are edible). On a charred stump (where we had a bonfire last winter) there is a fungus that looks a bit like white popcorn (but I couldn’t find it in my fungi book). There were a few butterflies fluttering about in the glade and also in the area we coppiced, plus a couple of hawker dragonflies too. The summer has also seen plenty of growth of the bracken in the glade, so I gave that another bashing; the difference from last year is noticeable as the diversity of plants is already increasing. The glade is still a bit too shaded now the trees leaves are full and this autumn’s work will include widening it to allow more light in next summer. I am also considering ring barking a mature oak on the edge of the glade; this will have the double benefit of making the glade sunnier (better for flowers and butterflies, etc) but also provide a decent contribution of standing deadwood which is a habitat feature that is rare in this woodland.

July; Pottering About

2008-07-31T12:36:00.002+01:00

We finished cutting back the path on the wayleave so it now varies between about 4’ and 8' wide to let the light reach the ground, so hopefully we should still have some bugle, violets and orchids again next year. There are also quite a few thistles which are up to about 6’ tall and there’s been plenty of butterflies fluttering about; including a white admiral that my dad saw. To provide the main timber joists for the new tree camp Tom and Sam felled an alder with an axe (I offered to chainsaw it but they insisted). Even split in half the 11’ timbers are bloody heavy when you are trying to hold them and fix them into a tree at above head height. The other tree camp, on the edge of the glade, is now looking healthy with a lush growth of new leaves giving shade and also hiding it a bit, and an old rope ladder that had been lurking in the garage for years has now been fixed up.

Bewl Bridge Reservoir is only about a mile away but we hadn’t walked there until this month. So on a hot day we set off in that general direction to see how long it would take. It was a pleasant walk; along the dead-end lane past thatched cottage, oasthouses and with 3 Alsatian guard dogs ferociously barking through the security fence around the manor house (until Che decided he would bark back at them and then they gave up). Past a field of broad beans (which tasted lovely and nutty raw) and then we looked down into the flooded valley. A short walk down an oak shaded hollow-way footpath and then Che was playing in the water. So, only a mile, and then it was another mile around to the café for lunch. I think we’ll be doing that walk again, but we’ll probably take a picnic next time as the café is rip-off expensive. I’m also planning on bringing my coracle here once I’ve built it.

June; Fair Weather Campers

2008-07-03T13:40:00.001+01:00

After previously being put off by weather forecasts in previous weeks, we decided to ignore what the beeb said and just go and camp anyway. Luckily we got away with just light drizzle as we set up on the Friday evening, and Saturday was a lovely day. We didn’t do a lot - which is a great way to spend a day and not something we are used to in ‘modern life’. After finally getting the fire started we cooked burgers, sausages and beans for a basic supper that always tastes better for the charring (that’s my excuse anyway). We (OK, I) put some sandstone rocks around the fire and that was fine until the fire died down, then as they cooled they cracked and sent little bits of hot stone flying. Plan B is to buy some proper fire bricks and use those to make 4 short pillars to support a metal grid on which we can then cook. Previously we’d used logs which are generally OK for a few fires but are impermanent for obvious reasons so it would be good to have something more lasting.

The bracken growth in the clearing has slowed now, although I did give it somemore bashing; hopefully another couple of years and we may not have to do it again. It is already making a difference (we started bracken bashing last year) and there is the odd patch of grass and other plants as yet unidentified growing in what was just a bracken monoculture. There’s also a few brambles starting to grow too but we’ll mange the area as best we can to get a diversity of plants and encourage butterflies etc into the clearing. On the edge of the clearing we have our first foxglove, while elsewhere in the wood the honeysuckle is in full flower. Tom saw a deer on the wayleave, which is only the second time we’ve seen one at the wood, although we do see their tracks in the mud.

This month we also spent time cutting back some of the birch and alder on the wayleave to keep a path clear and allow sunlight to reach the floor. Work has started on a new tree camp, this time it will be a bit larger as it will reach between 2 trees that are growing either side of the stream. Tom is hoping to sleep in it once it’s complete, but at the moment we are still at an early stage of fixing the basic supporting timbers to the trees.

2008-05-27T21:24:00.004+01:00

Here Comes Summer

Beltane weekend saw the bluebells in full splendour, a fantastic sight not just for themselves but also for the backdrop they form to the greening of the woodland. The ferns are growing with a lushness that you only get in this early part of summer; and this plus the other young growth makes the woodland almost glow with fresh greenness. There are a lot more violets in flower now too along with bugle adding colour to the wayleave – although they are in danger of getting shaded out by the encroaching birch saplings, so we need to do some more clearing in that area. We haven’t seen any owls yet, but we did find an owl pellet which we teased apart to find a mouse’s skull. Later in the month we saw a couple of Orange Tip moth caterpillars as well as some ‘little green jobs’ that we didn’t identify.

A contact we made at the WoodFair last year came and collected a pick-up load of logs for firewood; but this turned out to be more ‘interesting’ than anticipated. Long story short, we were lucky our neighbourly woodland owners were around with their Landy which was needed to pull the pick-up out of the soft sandy muddy rut it was stuck in.

As building a bender for the loo was so simple (and reasonably elegant too) we have made another one to provide somewhere sheltered to leave our fold-up chairs, table and anything else that we want to keep out of the rain but isn’t so valuable that it needs locking up. As the main work season disappears behind us it is now more relaxed in the wood and a visit later in May saw us building a rope swing, chilling out in hammocks, sitting in the tree camp drumming and daydreaming about what we could do next. Work consisted of pulling/digging up a small patch of Rhododendron, chopping a few logs and bracken bashing in the clearing (we are leaving other patches of bracken standing).

A More Convenient Convenience

2008-04-29T12:25:00.004+01:00

Unfortunately only managed to visit once this month, but it was constructive as we took down the failed rope and tarpaulin contrivance that housed the loo last year and built a more elegant ‘bender’ structure in a fresh location. Digging the hole was easy in our sandy soil and even Che leant a helping paw. Initially the plan was to use chestnut for the main supports as this would be the most rot resistant; however chestnut’s often useful splitability meant it didn’t have enough bendability. So the plan changed slightly and the bender frame was made completely from hazel. Then it was simply a matter of securing a couple of tarps over the frame and hey presto we’ve got a loo. It hasn’t got a door and next visit we’ll decide how much of a door/flap to put on to balance providing privacy with having a loo with a view.

A walk around the wood saw violets in flower and we spotted a single solitary primrose on the bank of the seasonal stream, surrounded by bluebells and ferns. Whilst in the wood I did the last(?) chainsawing of the season tidying up the stools where we’ve been coppicing (yep, we should have done them as we went along, but felling is more satisfying). Bill the woodsman paid us a visit giving some advice on felling awkward trees and he also gave my saw a ‘proper’ sharpening, which demonstrated why I need to give as much focus to the guides as I give to the teeth.

Woody the Forester

2008-03-27T09:13:00.002Z

Well we’ve just about got all the felled trees logged up now and burnt all the branches etc that were too thin for firewood, so the coppiced area is now clear and we can see what we’ve achieved. All that’s left to do now is tidy up all the stools and stumps (many are still a bit tall having had the felling cuts but not yet been taken down lower) and arrange for someone to collect all the logs. Every visit over the past months has felt like it has been work work work, so now we are looking forward to visiting the wood just to relax and chill out, although I know I won’t be able to rest for long before I get to work again. But the next jobs will be more constructive; the loo needs rebuilding (the old tarpaulin construction wasn’t strong enough to survive the weather), and there’s rails to be put around the tree camp. We spotted our 1st bluebells last weekend; there are a few starting to flower at the southern edge of the wood. March also saw us say goodbye to our old car (Toyota Celica GT), which has been replaced with a more practical Subaru Forester which I call ‘Woody’ although the boss reckons it should be called Scooby. Although I miss the fun of the Celica, the Forester is no slouch and combines practicality with performance (4x4, but with a 2 litre turbo charged engine).

Spring is Sprung

2008-02-25T17:42:00.005Z

February 2008

This month we finished felling all the trees we wanted to coppice this season and most have been processed into logs and will later be cut and split for firewood. But there are still enough felled trees to keep us busy logging for at least a couple more days. Some of the birch has been stacked to intentionally start decaying, so that the fungi ‘spalt’ the wood and it can then be turned (see photo from previous month). While we have been working, Tom has been lending a hand and also taking time out to make bows and arrows, ride his bike around the wood and been plinking with the air rifle. Despite the frosty mornings, it feels that spring is here with the woods starting to green; the bluebells are spiking into the light and honeysuckle is in fresh leaf. We have heard and seen woodpeckers and by chance there was a standing dead tree in the area being coppiced so we have left this standing.

A New Year, A New Lesson

2008-02-01T15:59:00.000Z

January has seen a lot of trees coppiced / felled and the half an acre target has been achieved. My focus has been on felling, while the rest of the family has been doing some felling and a lot of clearing up processing the felled trees. About 60% of the trees felled are birch, with the rest being chestnut (all the oak standards have been left standing). The birch are generally single trees, with close twiggy branches and straight vertical trunks; so they are relatively easy to fell in a convenient direction. The chestnut, being from coppice stools, are generally leaning in all directions and more liable to get hung up; so it’s often a case of felling the birch around them to create a clearer space to fell into. Now the felling is (almost) complete, the next few visits will focus on clearing up and logging those felled trees that have not yet been processed and there will no doubt be a few more bonfires too. The heavy rains and wind have resulted in a couple more leaning trees, reminding us of the benefits of returning the wood to coppice rotation. The heavy rains also resulted in a temporary stream springing from an old rabbit hole; giving Che some new water to play in. We noticed that some birch wood has spalted and this makes great material for my dad’s woodturning, as can be seen in the bowl pictured above.

The lesson learnt this month is: wheelbarrows do not like having trees felled on top of them!

December 2007

2007-12-31T21:57:00.000Z

This month saw more visits to the wood, all focussed on coppicing while the season and weather allowed. The felled trees have been piling up and aren’t all logged yet so the area looks a bit of a mess, but we are getting there. There is a lot more birch than originally thought and the plan is to control this when the coppice regrows and encourage more chestnut and/or maybe add some indigenous species. That’s a decision for next winter; for now the main aim is to get the area coppiced and the felled trees logged and stacked ready for sale for firewood. To counteract the cold, there have been some fires (also to get rid of the thin branches etc), and local chippies have seen our business too (not very Ray Mears, but very welcome on a frosty day). We are often joined by a Robin who hops and flits about the felled trees while we work. On one occasion while we were taking a well earned break, a Sparrowhawk flew through the wood and then locked talons with another. They spiralled around briefly (just like on TV!) before going their separate ways. With the trees now bare of leaves there is less colour in the wood, but this bareness moves your focus to the form of the trees such as the Alder pictured above.

One Year On

2007-11-26T12:36:00.000Z

November 2007

This month saw work start on returning the wood to coppice rotation. We are hoping to fell approx half an acre this winter, if we can do that every year then that will work out as roughly a 10 year coppice rotation. The first area to be done is, obviously and sensibly, next to the track; because it is easier for us to access, easier to get the logs to the trackside, and also means that there is more room to fell into without getting (too many) trees hung up in their neighbours. So far so good; we’ve spent a couple of days felling and only had 2 trees hung up (yes, I know that should have been zero, but we are still learning). The answer in both cases was a rope around the base attached by a karabiner to a ratchet strap around a nearby tree. This solution is not as effective as a strong winch (or avoiding getting the tree hung up in the first place!) but it works if you have patience.

There’s always something new and this month we saw for the first time in the wood; fly agaric, ink cap and a woodcock (it did seem odd seeing a wading bird in woodland). Most of the trees’ leaves have turned and fallen, but there is still some green in the wood from the ferns (and brambles). It’s now a whole year since we bought the wood and looking back it’s been even better than we expected. The wood is lovely; whether it’s the colours of autumn, a warm winter fire, spring bluebells, moth spotting, camping in the summer, sharing the wood with friends or just chilling out on our own. Owning this wood has added another dimension to life and is the best investment ever.

Ready for Winter

2007-10-28T13:00:00.000Z

The past month has seen the weather turn away from the mild quiet of late summer towards the refreshing season of turning leaves and the season of nature’s rest. The tree camp has had its tops lopped; we pollarded the trees so they wouldn’t catch the gales and bring the whole lot down. My 1st experience of working with a chainsaw at height and although there were no injuries it wasn’t all plain sailing as a misjudgement of a tree’s lean ended up with the saw firmly held tight in the cut. Lots of rope pulling, hand sawing and muttered expletives were required to free the chainsaw. The tree camp now looks a bit bare (see before/after photo's below) but by next summer it will have grown some mop-tops to soften the starkness. We have also spent a day widening the glade a little and the fire pit area now seems linked to the glade rather than separate from it.

Saturday 27th October saw us gather with family and friends to mark the season. The afternoon was spent chilling out and cooking on the fire; roasting chestnuts, charring sausages and even roasting a whole chicken. The evening was lit by loads of fireworks; everyone brought some along and the display lasted about 1¾ hours! We finished the day off with a bonfire (which also had the benefit of getting rid of the branches and smaller wood from the trees felled or pollarded in the preceding weeks).

2007-09-10T12:12:00.000+01:00

July to September 2007

Late summer saw fewer visits to the wood as the rest of life took over (DIY at home plus a fantastic holiday in Ecuador). During the few days spent in the wood, most time was spent chilling out; although there was always some work getting done, typically bracken bashing and keeping the path clear through the wayleave. The tree camp now has its floorboards complete and rails all round – next job will be to pollard the trees so they and the camp don’t come down in the autumn gales. The 1st weekend in September we camped in our wonderful new pop-up tents (Eurohike Flash) which take just a few seconds to put up and take down; so much easier than the cumbersome but palatial ‘umbrella’ tent we have been using, but if staying for more than a couple of nights we’ll probably still use the big old tent. Also that weekend one of Tom’s friends stayed over and they had fun exploring the wood, whittling staffs and making use of the air rifle to put holes in their old primary school’s fleece before they start secondary school. The wood feels subdued in late summer, the energy and new life of spring seems a long time behind us, while the glory of autumn colours is yet to appear. But we know that it’s only a few weeks until the leaves will be changing and it will be time to get the chainsaw back into action.

Summertime, and the living is easy

2007-07-03T20:25:00.000+01:00

Sunday 17th June 2007

A wonderfully laidback day. A bit more work done on the upper platform of the tree camp, adding a few more split chestnut ‘floorboards’. Bashing bracken in the glade and a gentle wander down the gill and up the wayleave, where we found a beautiful orchid in full flower (Heath Spotted Orchid?). During the wander we collect some hazel for staffs and then back by the clearing to sit whittling for a while or chilling out in the hammock. The birdsong is periodically outcompeted by our attempts at drumming. With the leaves now in full leaf the woods are much darker and the glade seems quite small again, but we plan to widen it when winter returns.

Beltane and a Beautiful Demoiselle

2007-06-02T10:11:00.000+01:00

Sunday 6th May saw our 1st gathering in the wood, a sort of woodwarming and also to gather for Beltane; about 16 of us in all. For most it was their 1st visit to the wood and after all were there we gave them a short ‘tour’ through the bluebells and down the wayleave (now with a profusion of bugle) then up through Sulis Gill and back to the clearing where half a dozen tents were pitched. Supper included jacket spuds cooked in the fire, some in foil but we also tried some in a biscuit tin; those in the tin were almost successful! Next time we’ll not pile so much of the fire on top of the tin as the bottoms were fine but the tops charred. It was a lovely laidback evening sitting round the fire chatting, sharing a few beers and cooking burgers and sausages over the flames; while the maybugs held their own gathering around the hurricane lamp. Monday morning was met by many sleepily waking faces as we relit the fire from its embers and made toast before the rain joined us and we packed up the soaking tents before heading to Hastings and the Jack-in-the-Green celebration of the beginning of summer.

At the end of May we did a little more work on the tree camp; fixing the main supports for the second platform and starting to put on the ‘floor boards’. All but a very few bluebells are past flowering and the trees are much greener now. A walk down the wayleave finds the bugle still in flower and Tom’s young eyes spot a Beautiful Demoiselle there. The bracken in the clearing gets a good thrashing and Julie takes out the sycamore saplings from Sulis Gill. We finish the day digging out a couple of stumps from the parking area and smooth out the lump there that caused trouble at the start of the month (and also fill in the hole that I managed to reverse into).

A Glorious April

2007-05-02T12:57:00.000+01:00

The 1st Friday in April was our first night camping in the wood. It was a lovely sunny day – meaning it was going to be a cold night. The evening was great; sitting by the fire listening to the sounds of the wood as the smoke seemed always attracted to us. Within the heat of the fire, potatoes baked and beans simmered in the pan on top; we added some cheese and washed it all down with cider for inner warmth (later to re-emerge as heartburn). We then wonder through the wood to meet the moth spotters who had set up their light traps nearby. The moths they attracted, and the knowledge of the moth spotters, was fascinating (see below for list of moths trapped). Back to the tent and we fall asleep to the sound of owls, only to be awoken by heartburn and the growing cold; the morning greets us with a dawn chorus and then sleepy people emerge. A quick wander is followed by a retreat to the Little Chef for some hot chocolate (yes, not at all in the spirit of camping, but hot chocolate…).

The next visit is more practical - constructing the composting loo. A proper loo seat (well, we need a little bit of comfort) on a strong box, placed over a hole then housed in a tarpaulin enclosure for privacy; basic but functional. Also add a bit more to the tree camp in preparation for constructing a higher platform. See a comma and a sulphur yellow butterfly. There is some ‘fluff’ at the entrance to one of the nest boxes so maybe there’s residents, we’ll keep a better look out for them.

A few days later and we are clearing a space by the track for parking; within site from the clearing, and out of site from the road and Little Chef car park. Slow progress trying to remove stumps, what looked weak was strong and trying to cut low down soon resulted in a blunt chainsaw. Plan B; just tidy up the stumps so there’s no sharp bits and build up the level with hardcore so that the stumps aren’t a problem. There’s a lot more bluebells out now and wood anemones, plus quite a few violets and bugle on the wayleave.

Friday 27th April; a quick visit checking things out before we have visitors camping over for Beltane weekend. Although the clearing is not vast, there should be enough room for tents, including a few between the trees if necessary. The moth spotters have left a list of those they trapped a few weeks ago. As I’m walking down the wayleave a deer bolts in the wood, the 1st one we’ve seen in Ewar Woowar. The path through the wayleave is overgrown already and I cut it wider, giving more light to encourage the bugle flowers that are struggling in the shade of the birch saplings. The bluebells are in full flower now and the wood is more beautiful than I’ve ever seen it before. I finish off by starting to clear a path around the south west edge of the wood, as this is a part we rarely walk through (this is where there are some rhododendron, and the ground flora is a bit different with more moss that elsewhere in the wood).

Moths trapped 6/4/7;

with many thanks to Peter and David of http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/

Brindled Pug
Chestnut
Clouded Drab
Common Quaker
Diurea Fagella
Early Grey
Early Thorn
Early Toothed-striped
Engrailed
Eriocrania subpurpurella
Esperia Sulphurella
Frosted Green (very rare in Kent)
Hebrew Character
March Moth
Mottled Grey
Nut Tree Tussock
Oak Beauty
Satellite
Shoulder Stripe
Small Quaker
Twin Spot Quaker
Yellow Horned

Going up in the world

2007-04-02T11:59:00.000+01:00

Saturday 31st March 2007

It’s a lovely sunny day and the wood is now much greener; the bluebells’ shoots are more full and lush; honeysuckle is in leaf and some of the trees’ leaf buds are opening. In the gill by the seasonal stream the wood anemones are in flower. We see a fritillary butterfly on the wayleave and a peacock butterfly joins us later to sun itself in the clearing. After previous visits spent concentrating on developing the clearing and other more practical aspects of the wood, it was good to spend some time taking things a bit easier. ‘Proper’ work was burning the smaller branches and wood from previous weeks clearing, more creative was starting on Tom’s tree camp. This is not going to be some ultra smart neat and tidy ‘shed in a tree’ style tree house. It’s starting off with a simple platform, which in time will no doubt be expanded with extra platforms at different levels, walls, roof and maybe even a walkway to other trees – well, that’s daydreaming anyway, we’ll see what the future brings. For now, we have a platform with a floor of split chestnut and that’s a good solid start.

Biodiversity Plan

2007-03-19T19:23:00.000Z

Having lived with the wood for a few months now, with the advice we have received, and with daydreams, the plan is to increase the diversity of habitats within the wood (and hence promote biodiversity) as sketched out below. The original habitat is mainly uniformly aged chestnut coppice with oak standards, which changes to alder and hazel along the gill; there are also birch in the sunnier areas of the coppice. There is a central strip of brambles running north-south where trees have been cleared by a previous owner, and a small central clearing. While the oak is great for wildlife, chestnut supports only a few species compared to native tree species (e.g. see table below indicating number of insect species associated with various tree).

The plan is to evolve the middle of the wood as continuous cover forestry by managing and supplementing natural regeneration to favour indigenous tree species. The existing clearing was too small to be of significant benefit for wildlife; rule of thumb for clearings is to have the width at least 2x the height of the trees, as this allows plenty of sunlight in. To create this we will expand the width of the existing clearing and also extend it to the south boundary. The bramble area will be left as it is, with the brambles providing food and shelter for a variety of species; over time natural succession will age this area. The hazels in the gill will be coppiced, while the alders will generally be left to mature. The remainder of the wood will continue as chestnut coppice with oak standards, but rather than being coppiced in a single year, it will be done in smaller areas (approx 0.5 acre per year) to provide a wider range of ages and hence habitats.

Table of trees and associated insects (* indicates introduced species).
Adapted from www.offwell.free-online.co.uk/woodland_manage/

Habitat plan at purchase (November 2006)

Proposed habitat/management plan

THE GROWING GLADE

2007-02-20T13:44:00.000Z

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.

FROM PLANS TO PROGRESS

2007-02-04T14:04:00.000Z

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.

2007-01-20T10:19:00.000Z

NEW YEAR, NEW PLANS

Friday 12th January 2007

The Forestry Commission visited today to give advice on how we can manage the woodland for the benefit of wildlife. We walked the wood and I was disappointed that the Forestry Commission advisor could not tell me what the fern species were (I guess that’s not his job), but he seemed to have good knowledge on general woodland management. In general he agreed with our plans, and provided clarification on a few points, in particular:
· The glade we are clearing is well positioned, at the south edge of the wood with a field adjacent; this will allow easy colonisation of the glade by butterflies etc. He suggested that the trees cut to create the glade could be maintained on short rotation coppice (2 yrs).
· Much of the chestnut coppice hasn’t been felled for over 20 years, the stools themselves maybe over 150 years old.
· 2 main options for the coppicing are either
bringing in a contractor to coppice 2 acres or so at a time, or
coppice it ourselves and do about 0.5 acre per year.
The 1st option may bring in about £100-200, while the second option could be better for wildlife as this will provide a more varied range of habitats (and so our management plan will include option 2).
· The hazel in the gulleys is well overdue for coppicing. He suggested the gulleys be managed either fully coppiced, or as standards with a coppice hazel understorey.
· We should maintain a variety of deadwood; standing, wind blown, felled and stacked.
· Regular cutting should be enough to control the rhododendron, as it is quite young.
· The local Forestry Commission policy on ‘permitted developments’ such as tool sheds is that they will advise the council against granting authorisation if we apply.
· The north east corner which is a SSSI should simply be maintained as coppice. We just need to write to Natural England for approval before we coppice it.

Following the visit, I spend some time just wandering and wondering. I stop in the south east corner and take some time to connect with the spirits of place. This corner has a lovely feel to it; a sheltered gulley with a stream winding through it, slender hazels, lumpy alders and a trunk clad in fungi (trametes versicolor?) bridging the stream. Am pondering with whether to give this part of the wood a name, maybe “Cunnits’ Corner” or “Sulis’ Gill”?

From 1872 to 2006

2006-12-03T17:17:00.000Z

1872 map of Ewarwoowar (www.old-maps.co.uk)

130+ years later; the Post Boy Inn is now a Little Chef, a small area of woodland opposite has been removed, there are a few new buildings and a wayleave cuts through Cats Wood.

A little work

2006-12-03T17:15:00.000Z

Saturday 2nd December

1st day doing ‘real work’; clearing space for camping. The site is pretty central (east-west) in the wood and to the south. Char marks show that it was used by (presumably) the previous owners for fires. We clear some small trees and move some previously felled wood, but there’s still plenty more to do. The felled wood is cut and stacked for firewood and smaller trimmings stacked to one side. We also walk a tour of the wood; the stream is now more full with recent rain. Just to the east of the bridge is a pile of feathers (pigeon?) showing the work of what we assume is a fox. Tom and I cut hazel for staffs. We note that there are quite a few sweet chestnut trees blown over (not very recently and mostly still growing), maybe they should have been coppiced earlier. We finish the day picking up a few more bottles.

The Story Begins

2006-11-19T03:08:00.000Z

Saturday 18th November

The day after we completed purchase on Chick Wood (aka Ewarwoowar). A general visit to look around and familiarise ourselves with what we’ve got. The main trees present are coppice sweet chestnut with oak standards. On the south side (and scattered within the wood) are silver birches; while along the stream gulley at the south are hazel and alder. There is a reasonably sized holly in the south east. In the south west there are some young rhododendrons. Fungi include puffballs, candle snuffs, various bracket fungi and jelly-like orangish ‘blobs’. While we are walking along the south of the wood a red admiral flutters by in the dappled sunshine. We spend some time planning where we could camp, etc. On a map of the wood we mark on the larger oaks along with their circumferences; there are about 35 trees over 50” girth, some up to about 100” (making them 100 years old or possibly more). We collect some litter (mainly plastic milk bottles) which looks pretty old, there’s no sign of people recently using the wood.