The White Admirals were out in force in the glorious July weather, when Alice Parfitt, Reserves Manager of the Sussex Wildlife Trust guided a group of SWOG members round Flatropers Wood Nature Reserve. She described the work that Sussex Wildlife has carried out to encourage butterflies and birds in the woodland. Flatropers is managed by the Trust with the help of volunteers, who record wildlife and work to keep paths and tracks clear for visitors.
Sue and Andy Malleson needed a bit more seating in their wood, so took themselves off on a bentwood chair-making courses at Hanwell Wine Estate with John Hollins. His courses are incredibly popular and you’ll need to book several months in advance to secure a place. John is a very talented tutor and guides a small groups step-by-step to make their own beautiful bentwood chairs from green hazel
Sue said, ‘Our two- day chair-making course proved to be a lot harder work than I’d imagined. We chose our own materials from hazel bundles provided by our tutor and we had to cut them to size and nail them in place. Working with green wood sounded much easier than it actually was. But the hard work and aches were certainly worth it. The chairs now grace our woodland and are surprisingly comfortable.’
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Many thanks are owed to Martin and Marilyn Garwood of Crow Wood, part of the Old Park Wood in Goudhurst. They hosted a wonderful afternoon of butterfly ID and general ‘woodie’ type chat in their wood in July. 
They are passionate about wildlife and passed on some valuable nuggets about how they’ve been managing their wood to attract more butterflies, birds and reptiles, which plants to encourage and how to maintain the light levels for each. Martin and Marilyn have created a wonderful oasis of wildlife and keep a blog here which you can subscribe to:
http://thecrowwd.blogspot.com/
At the same time the Big Butterfly Count was on so we had our downloaded ID charts to hand and managed to spot a good variety of species including:
Small and Large Whites, Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Commas, Common Blues, and the turbo-charged Silver Washed Fritillaries all made an appearance.
More photos from the day, including Martin’s neatly constructed method of seasoning firewood, each log is carefully placed and sheds water whilst allowing the air to circulate through the stack.
Once you’ve spent any amount of time in the woods, you’ll probably discover that you need some kind of protection from the elements. Or as Mick Jagger once sang “If I don’t get some shelter …Oh yeah, I’m gonna fade away” . Well hopefully and despite the recent hot weather, it won’t come to that, but making a comfortable area where you can rest, brew a cup of tea and make a simple meal will probably be quite a high priority for you.
We have looked at sheds before and their role in providing shelter and a safe place to store tools for forestry purposes. This is not an article about sheds or more permanent structures which may or may not need permission of some kind from the planners, for more detailed information on this, see our leaflet:
https://www.woodlands.co.uk/owning-a-wood/sheds-leaflet.pdf
This article is intended as a guide to putting up a simple tarpaulin type shelter, using one I built earlier this spring as an example. It will be temporary, but may last a few seasons depending on what kind of wood you have available and the skills and techniques you are able to muster.
July NewsFlatropers Wood, Rye, Sussex 14 July 10.30am-1.30pm
A guided walk with Alice Parfitt of the Sussex Wildlife Trust through Flatropers Wood, 37 hectares of mixed woodland, rides and paths. Refreshments will be available next door in the wood of SWOG members Dominic and Wendy Eldred-Earl. Alice will discuss the successful management of Flatropers for butterflies and birds and provide advice for woodland owners. Email [email protected] to book a place.
About 20 people met up in Cotgrave Forest to hear about managing woodlands for butterflies from Ben Driver, Southern Conservation Officer with the Notts Wildlife Trust. Read more …
Butterflies in the Midlands – SWOG meeting
We are delighted to be able to run another meeting about managing woodlands for butterflies, this time in the Midlands.
Thanks to owners in Cotgrave Forest and Ben Driver from the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, there will be a SWOG meeting at Cotgrave, Notts at 2pm on Saturday 23 June.
Ben Driver of the Notts Wildlife Trust will conduct a guided walk to spot butterflies and talk about woodland management for butterfly conservation.
Please email [email protected] to attend.
We received news of the death of Sarah Walters with great sadness on 8 April. Read more …
Tortworth Churchyard in South Gloucestershire is home to one of Britain’s most ancient sweet chestnut trees, so old in fact, that the first commemorative plaque about the tree is itself 200 years old. Read more …
Woodland owners in Waste Wood have a proud history of working together to tackle shared woodland tasks. Richard Cooper has written in to tell us about the ‘fun’ he and his partner Fi had while unblocking their culvert. Read more …
Confor is a membership organisation that promotes sustainable forestry and timber production through political engagement, market promotion and supporting members. Read more …
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