Hi from West Sussex/Surrey

[TerryH]

Hi,
First post and introduction here from us. My wife and I are new (ish) woodland owners having acquired four and a half acres of broadleaf woodland in West Sussex just over one year ago. It is mostly hornbeam coppice with standards, with quite a bit of oak and ash too... hasn't been been managed for many decades apparently.

Our first year has been taken up with getting to know the trees and other wildlife, fencing repairs and dealing with a few fallen/dangerous trees (just about got on top of that last one and along comes the stormy season and we have a couple of extra fallers to deal with - oh well, the extra firewood and timber is very welcome!).
We also carried out a quite detailed survey of the varieties of trees and bushes this summer so now we know exactly what we've got and exactly where it is - really useful ! If anyone is interested to see that, our 'Maps and Stats' can be found here http://torwoodblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/maps-and-stats.html
I'd be interested to hear how other people's broadleaf woods compare to ours in terms of density, mix of species etc...

We have a couple of small open spaces but generally, looking up, there is not a great deal of sky to be seen around the tops of the trees. It's an attractive woodland even in the absence of any management however the nebulous topic (!) of "management" is probably one of the main things that is making us want to reach out and learn more through places such as this this forum.
But for now we just wanted to say "Hi!"

Great forum, by the way. I've been reading lots of interesting discussions here and they've answered some of my many questions already!

Terry

P.S Here are a few pics of our wood...
Bluebells this spring..


Enormous Dryads saddle fungus ...


We have a few small-leaved lime trees .. especially these big coppiced ones...


Possibly our most stunning tree of all. A very old Wild Service Tree....

[Dexter's Shed]

welcome to the forum Terry, (from Goose Wood) I recognise that last picture as the bear tree?

[oldclaypaws]

Looks like a delightful wood and you've put some good pictures on the blog Terry. You also have humour. Do you realise how lucky you are to have the wild service trees- that makes it a special little wood. Have enjoyed a quick flit over your blog and noted the references to winching with great interest as I'm gonna have to give a go at my big leaners. Previously found you winching the Hornbeam on Youtube when I was looking for related Videos. The FC winching guide is a useful link- ta for that. I have one Hornbeam, and its in a pot!

Admirable map, I was going to do the same but not sure if I have the same level of draftsmanship. Very useful for planning access routes and backing up felling licences, etc.

Welcome aboard.

[TerryH]

@Dexter's Shed: Hello again... Yes that's the 'grizzly bear' tree alright

@oldclaypaws: Hi and thanks. In this messed up world humour is essential, huh? Yes I was, and still am, completely bowled over by that big service tree. I understand that they grow quite slowly so it must be very old indeed. Good luck with the winching and you have to forgive my over-excited and under-informed babblings on that blog because I now think that particular tree was not a hornbeam but more likely an oak or ash (it was stripped of all it's bark by the time we got to it so who can say). Before we got the woodland I could probably identify an oak tree and that was about all !
The survey only got done to that degree of detail because I happened to be out of work/in between contracts this summer so I had plenty of time to focus on it. I spent many days in the woods and was proper 'tree crazy' after that. Happy days...

[Meadowcopse]

Hello from Cheshire and good work with the map and observations.
Sorbus / Wild Service Trees attract some interesting lines of academic interest, mainly due to hybrids http://archive.bsbi.org.uk/Wats19p209.pdf
There are a couple of more recent specialist books on them too...

Regards,

Daniel

[TerryH]

Hi Daniel, Hope you are well. I've followed your meadowcopse blog for some time and I know you are, quite literally, enjoying the fruits of your labour up there in Cheshire! That extract you posted about the Wild Service distributions was very interesting. It raises some thoughts/questions about how we might best care for the ones that we have, so I'll try and do a separate post about that soon when I get some more time...
Thanks

[oldclaypaws]

Interesting that you appear to have no Sycamore, Birch, Willow or Sweet chestnut, all of which are relatively widespread. Here in the West, Elm is quite a common hedge tree and I'm lucky to have a few fair sized examples. It would be interesting if you have the time to list some of the herbaceous plants and see how many AWI's you have. I've several including Orchids and Solomons Seal, but my chums not too far away are groaning under Herb Paris, which is well rare.

All woods are so individual.

I'm possibly one of the few owners to have a good few Camelia Sinensis, but I did put them there last year ! (Tea plants).

[TerryH]

No birch in our wood but I think there are a couple in the field next to us ( so maybe one day if the wind blows favourably ...? )

These are the flowering plants I noted last spring/summer (hopefully I can learn of some others in the year to come):

Primrose
wood anenome (lots of)
bluebells (lots of)
yellow archangel
dog violet
Herb Robert/Red Robin
Cuckoo Flower/Lady's smock
Lesser Celandine
Early Purple Orchid
Garlic Mustard
Wood Stitchwort
Cuckoo Pint/Arum Maculatum
Wood Speedwell
Hedge Woundwort
Burnet Rose
Honeysuckle (small amount of this growing in the hedgerow at one spot)

I'm not sure exactly how many of those might class as "AWI"s in these parts though.

Tea plants... interesting. You should team up with Dexters Shed and his new kettle. Then all you would need is a willing cow

[oldclaypaws]

If you check this list, you'll find most of what you've listed are ancient woodland indicators.

http://www.backonthemap.org.uk/theproject/analysis/species

The Crabapple and Wild Service are pretty reliable indicators too.

Congratulations.

[Wendelspanswick]

No birch in our wood but I think there are a couple in the field next to us ( so maybe one day if the wind blows favourably ...? )

With the recent winds you could have a complete tree blowing into your wood!