News & Events

It’s been a long and challenging year in the life of this project.  We have been transforming 20 or so standing woodland oak trees, about 100 years old to a standing oak framed barn which hopefully will last for many more years than that.   My colleague, Dan and myself  made a start on milling the timbers two winters ago.  Using his motto of ‘just keep chipping away at it’,eventually, after a freezing beast from the east and a long hot summer we managed to erect the skeleton of a frame towards the end of January.

To recap:  I am thinning  a crowded almost full canopy of oak from two of the  coppiced woodlands I manage  about 10 miles from the site of the new ‘Old’ Barn in the High Weald Area of Outstanding National Beauty.  (See Building a new ‘Old Barn’ part I).

I have had two expert framers with me Richard Thomlinson  of Thomlinsons Oakframed Buildings and Becca Tan, both have been instrumental in getting the building to this stage.  They have also had to endure freezing temperatures, blowing gales and one of the hottest summers on record.

Read more …

11 May 2019  11am–3pm
We are delighted that Daniel Small, Woodland Management Officer in the National Forest, is going to lead a SWOG meeting in the National Forest.

It’s a  unique opportunity to hear about the development of the National Forest, on the borders of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. The post-industrial region has been regenerated to become a sustainable and much-loved part of the Midlands landscape over the past 30 years, and now incorporates wildlife corridors, woodlands and footpaths.

Daniel will lead a walk around woodlands near the forest headquarters at Moira and also talk about issues faced by small woodland owners.

This is a free event. Parking is available on site at The National Forest, Bath Yard, Moira, DE12 6BA

Please bring your own refreshments.

Please register here or email Judith with any questions.

Read more …

An Introduction to Mosses and Liverworts Notts Wildlife Trust
Saturday 23^rd February at Rushcliffe Country Park Classroom, 11am-4pm.
Followed by two field sessions, the first of which is on 2 March Read more …

The Royal Forestry Society has recently published Bringing woodland into management: The missed opportunities in England and Wales. This pithy report drives home the problems of woodland management in England and Wales. Read more …

Back by popular demand!

The Royal Forestry Society has unveiled its 2019 training courses, with the tricky topic of Winter Tree ID kicking off the season on 22 February. Read more …

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. Read more …

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 …

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.