Archive for 2018

Forest Research are working to provide Defra with evidence from different kinds of woodland owners and managers, including owners of small woodlands, about how they are/are not dealing with recent outbreaks of tree pests and diseases, such as ash dieback, and how they might be planning to deal with the threat of potential future outbreaks.

The information collected will be used by Defra and partner agencies to help develop policy options for tree health as the UK leaves the European Union.

Forest Research is planning a series of meetings around the country over the next couple of months. They will focus on the views of a specific group of woodland owners/managers.  Information about the meetings will be shared with stakeholders as they are organised. Group discussions will focus on managers of trees in the urban and peri-urban environment including owners and managers of small woods.

Bristol and Bath area.

Monday 26 November The Golden Guinea, Guinea Street, Bristol,7pm-9pm over a pie and a pint

Wednesday 28 November 12pm-2pm The Assembly, Old Market, Bristol, working lunch

Oxford

Monday 10 December 10:30-15:00 the Oxford Martin School

For more information or to sign up to participate in either of these meetings please contact Bianca Ambrose on [email protected] or tel: 0777 587 0865

If you would like to participate by contributing your views but are unable to come to either of these meetings, please get in touch with Bianca as there may be other ways you could contribute.

Thanks to Northamptonshire Archives for permission to reproduce this 1950s craft project.

These simple leaf prints look really striking and we’ve transposed the hand-written instructions from 1956. It involves fire and fat, so proceed at your own risk.

Items needed
Enamel or tin plate
Small quantity of lard
Knife
Taper or candle (I prefer taper. There is not as much tallow dripping down.)
3 pieces greaseproof or similar paper for each leaf
Match
Tree or other plant leaf
A duster is also handy

1. With a knife smear the underside of the plate with lard. (If too much fat is used the print will be blotchy and the fat will run off).

2. Then with a lighted taper, black the plate over the fat. (Hold the plate high and the flame from the taper will do the rest).

3. Place leaf on smoked plate.

4. Place a piece of paper over the leaf and rub well, so that all parts of the leaf have a chance to get black.

5. Remove leaf from plate and place on another piece of paper, smoked side down.

6. Take the third piece of paper, place over the leaf and rub. When you think all the black has been rubbed on to the underneath piece of paper, carefully remove the top piece of paper and the leaf and should have a nice smoke print leaf.

‘I do hope you can understand this.’

One of the best things about the APF Show is that if you hang around long enough, you will bump into just about every woody person you want to see. From Bob the Bodger, to Sir William Worsley, APF 2018 did not disappoint. Read more …

In the late 1980s a group of visionaries came together with the idea of revitalising a large swathe of the Midlands that had been decimated by heavy industries. Daniel Small, Woodland Management Officer at the National Forest, looks back at how a forest was created. Read more …

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.  Read more …

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.  Read more …

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” .  Read more …

July News

• The House of Wessex: Sylva’s Anglo-Saxon past
• Tree champion faces a huge task: the Department of the Environment has appointed Sir William Worsley as the new Tree Champion.
• New advice for monitoring and felling diseased ash
• Mammals on Roads survey. The People’s’ Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is running a nationwide survey of mammal sightings along single-carriage roads.

Flatropers 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 …

Catch up with the latest SWOG news here.

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 …