The September newsletter is now available to download from the link below.

Fungi season! - Picture courtesy of Mike Pepler

This month’s packed news letter incudes articles on camping in the woods with just a tarp, how to check the moisture content of your firewood, a look at the how the Malvern Community Forest came to be, useful information about dragonflies, damselflies and ponds and an update about the latest ‘best practice’ when it comes to managing deer.

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SWOG newsletter September 10

He writes:

As you know many of us have been championing the opportunity to use lower quality wood as a sustainable fuel source for many years. We now seem to have reached a point where many of us appreciate the finite nature of fossil fuels and the need to find sustainable alternatives.

Wood will not address all our energy needs but in England’s most wooded Region it could certainly play a significant role and in so doing offers a range of business opportunities.

You are probably aware that the Woodheat Solutions Project led by the Forestry Commission is working to transfer knowledge and experience about how to use woodfuel from Austria and Finland where it’s use as a sustainable fuel source is well established. Some of you joined us on the study tours to Austria and Finland and others are benefitting from specialist advice on how woodfuel cold be used in your own properties.

In association with Thames Valley Energy we’ve pulled together the lessons we’ve learnt so far into a training package which we will roll out at a series of seminars in September and October.

We aim to provide a free and robust days training taking you from ‘wood to warmth’, highlighting the range of business opportunities which this offers.

We hope you will be able to join us, and if not feel free to forward details to anyone who may be interested.

Matthew Woodcock

Forestry Commission South East England

For details and more information see the  flyer.

Dendroctonus micans

They will be running two half day site based information talks, If you would be interested in attending please forward your details to Lucy Phillips email: lucy.phillips@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

The full article is available here to download.

There are still a couple of places left on this course if anyone is interested?

Andy Noble of  Natures Craft is running an introduction to bushcraft day at Lords Wood near Alton in Hampshire later this year.    This is being offered to SWOG members at a considerable discount, (£20 instead of £70) to cover their costs.  Numbers will be limited to 10 so book early to avoid disappointment.

Cooking 'damper' on green hazel sticks

The Day’s Outline

A one day introductory session in bushcraft and wilderness living

11th September 2010 10am – 5pm – £20

The ‘Introduction to bushcraft’ session provides a taster into just some of the wide range of skills encompassed under the title “Bushcraft”, demonstrating how enjoyable and rewarding it can be to learn these skills.

Run by Andy Noble, of Natures Craft you will spend the day based in a woodland bushcraft camp where you will be shown and practice the following bushcraft skills:

• Making fire in a variety of methods
• Shelter construction
• Cordage production
• Plant, Fungi and Tree identification and their Bushcraft uses

The Natures Craft team will also be at hand to answer any other bushcraft related questions and will have a multitude of craft items on display to further demonstrate the potentials of this craft and hopefully provide some inspirational insights into the joys of working with natural materials.

Attendees will also be supplied with a voucher which will entitle the holder to a 15% discount on a future Natures Craft weekend long course.

Participants will need to supply a packed lunch, but there will be teas/coffee and squash available to help yourself to.

The course is run from a expedition style camp, and as such offers a very basic setup.  With merely a trench latrine for toilet facilities.  This enables us to leave a very minimal trace impact in our woods which follows our ethos of “leaving only footprints”.

The event will go ahead in all but the most extreme weather conditions, so please dress accordingly.

Please email rich@swog.org.uk to book a place on a first come first served basis.

A new guide published by the Deer Initiative has brought together the knowledge and experience gained over many years by the various organisations involved in deer management, including Forestry Commission Wales.

Aimed at landowners and deer managers, the guidance is based on best current knowledge and practices and covers all aspects of deer management from impact assessment to game meat hygiene.

The guidance is a source of technical information for those who deal with and give advice on deer management matters as well as an aide-memoire and reference tool for deer management practitioners.

Director of Forestry Commission Wales Trefor Owen said, “Forestry Commission Wales welcomes the publication of the Deer Initiative’s Best Practice Guide.

“As a core supporter of the Deer Initiative, we played a key part in developing this new guidance and we are delighted with the end result.

“The Guide sets out best practice techniques and information across the spectrum of wild deer management and is a practical reference tool for landowners in Wales.”

Forestry Commissioner for Wales Judith Webb is the Chair of the Best Practice Working Group comprising key partner organisations in the land and deer management sectors that produced the new Guidance.

Peter Watson, Director of the Deer Initiative Partnership, said, “This comprehensive and practical new guidance for landowners and deer managers has come about thanks to the support of our partner organisations and I’d like to congratulate Judith Webb and the rest of the Best Practice Working Group for their work on it.

“The challenge now is to ensure that Best Practice becomes common practice and we are confident that the Deer Best Practice Guide will become the industry standard for deer management.”

The Deer Best Practice Guide has been produced in hard copy and online. A hard copy is available from the British Deer Society, The Walled Garden, Burgate Manor, Fordingbridge, Hampshire, SP6 1EF for £25. The online version is available to all, free of charge, and will be updated as changes in legislation and regulation occur.

The Deer Initiative is a broad public and private sector partnership dedicated to ensuring sustainable and healthy populations of wild deer in England and Wales. Its core funding comes from the Defra family, Forestry Commission Wales and the Countryside Council for Wales.

For more information on the Deer Initiative please visit: www.thedeerinitiative.co.uk
For more information on the Deer Initiative’s Best Practice Guidance please visit: http://www.thedeerinitiative.co.uk/html/bestpractice.htm

Hazel Hurdles

This  gathering of England’s finest coppice craftsmen from six counties is taking place  between 11th and 15th August at Broadstone Warren on Ashdown forest.  It’s a great opportunity to enjoy an insight into the fascinating world of making traditional products from coppiced woodlands. Many of the tutors still make their living from producing these products and all of them have gathered this week to teach their skills to others.

Come and watch, or sign up and learn how to do it.

Contact Jo Waters for more information, all  details are available on the flyer downloadable from here.  (substantial discounts are available for people working in the industry, or living in the High Weald AONB).

Camping is available, but please bring all your own gear, wet weather clothing, boots and food and drink.

Hover fly - Photo courtesy of Elaine Hodgson

This months news letter is truly a bumper edition!

There are articles on wild flowers, managing a woodland on a steep slope by Steve Smith, planning applications by Vivien Cruickshank, a report on the SWOG  meeting at Ravenshill Wood  by Elaine Hodgson, wetland wood planting in Sussex, plus a round up of all the other events and courses which are going on in and around the country.

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SWOG newsletter August  10

If you have a digital camera, but are sometimes frustrated that the images
you take don’t reflect what you have seen, then this is for you. You
don’t need to have a lot of photographic knowledge, just a wish to improve
your photography and get the most out of your camera.

Alvecote Wood is 11 acres of ancient semi-natural oak woodland just
outside Tamworth in North Warwickshire. We are managing it as a site
for wildlife and for use by community groups. It provides many and varied
photo opportunities, as well as a lovely learning environment.

The day will be split into six sections, concentrating equally on artisticand technical elements of photography, so that at the end of the dayyou should be able to take images that are well composed, properlyexposed and that tell the story that you want to tell. It will be interactive,with plenty of practical exercises, and we hope everybody will participate to make the event enjoyable.

The event will cost £15, excluding meals/drinks, payable on the day.
Please be advised that there are no toilet facilities other than a simple
latrine on site and that you will need to bring with you a packed lunch
and drinks for the day. If the weather is good, a campfire may be available
and overnight camping is available upon request.
Places are limited so early booking is recommended
Please contact us for further information on info@pragmasis.com or go
to our web site at www.alvecotewood.co.uk or download the flyer for full details

The event will be billed as the “Surrey Hills Wood Fair hosted by Birtley
House”. Birtley House is a care home located in 48 acres of beautiful
parkland, woodland and gardens in Bramley, near Guildford. The home
installed a wood chip boiler in 2009 and aim to supply their own woodchip
from their woodlands. Birtley House is a regular host to public events and
is ideally located – see www.birtleyhouse.co.uk.

The purpose of the fair will be to draw the attention of Surrey (the most
wooded county in the country) residents, councils and developers to the
benefits of wood in all its guises. It is being organised by Surrey Hills
Wood Fuel on behalf on the Surrey Hills Board, and the Forestry Commission
has indicated that they would also like to join as a co-sponsor. The group  also
have the support of Surrey CC, Waverley BC and Surrey Wildlife Trust, as
well as a range of local groups and commercial organisations. They anticipate
taking the story of woods from acorn to wood-chip/ pellet (or bench,
sculpture, clothes-peg, what-have-you) and possibly from ancient Wealden
forest to modern-day coppice or plantation.

The format planned is for a lunchtime Opening Reception (Preview) on the
Friday (drinks and light buffet) with an afternoon of demonstrations,
seminars, etc with an invited audience from Surrey County and local
councillors; school managers and larger estates and other commercial
organisations (12.30 -16.00). The Saturday will be more orientated to the
wider public (target 500 visitors 10.00-16.00) with a range of
demonstrations and interactive presentations as well as sales of wood
products.

“A celebration of wood and all that it offers, from biodiversity to renewable energy, with fun for all the family!”

• Demonstrations Trade stands
• Coppice crafts
• Sculptures
• Wood stoves
• Wood boilers
• Local produce

Refreshments available and entry is FREE!

For more information see the Surrey Hills Woodfuel – woodfair page

http://www.surreyhillswoodfuel.org.uk/Wood_fair.htm

Established in 1998, the Environmental Education & Craft based Charity,  is a grass roots organisation, working for the benefit of present and future generations

They have been providing  a platform for positive community action & interaction in relation to important social and environmental issues.

If you had considered joining one of their courses, but never got round to it, now is the time to get in touch!  Further details about the group and the remaining courses can be found on their website

http://www.fourwindsedinburgh.org.uk/index.html