Hello. Looking for our woodland

[oldclaypaws]

From previous posts it seems the strictest planning restrictions come from National Parks, the North is full of them. (Dales, Northumberland, Peak District, Lakes, North York Moors). Planning in AONB's seems more of a loose lottery but tighter planning restrictions are one of their prime objectives. Again, there are several in the North, in fact maybe 50% of the North is either National Park or AONB. People unfamiliar with the North might have a stereotypical image of pits and heavy industry, but that was largely in the distant past. Its now a very beautiful part of the UK with far more 'wild' areas than the South and a great region for a holiday (subject to weather). Loads of historic sites too.

Cleggs properties are all individual, there are no block rules like .co.uk has, so unlikely to have any restrictive covenants against splitting. Buying a bigger one and selling part did occur to us when I was looking at 14 acres.

We visited maybe 20 or more woods for sale over a few years prior to finding ours. I used to do a checklist and score; access, £ value, trees & flora, drainage, slope, location, distance- so my appraisals were objective rather than emotional (I need that as I'm naturally indecisive). All are important, but one of the best things about ours is it's 3 miles away so we can be there in less than 10 minutes. The more time you can spend there, the more you see and feel bonded to it, its really uplifting to be in a wood every day and see all the subtle changes. Mrs Paws arranged to show a friend round the wood, as they came in the visiting friend said with surprise ' Oh, Mr Paws is here!' Mrs Paws accurately replied 'Of course...he lives here ! '. Fairly true.

[Stevieb0y]

Just out of interest I looked online recently at woods for sale in my local vicinity. I live South of Chester and so within your range. There were a couple of woods for sale in the Wirral. There are others in North Wales but

[Stevieb0y]

the distance may start becoming a bit of a bind. Especially if there are gales and you just want to check if you've lost any trees etc (I had a few blown down over last Christmas).
Good luck, take your time and enjoy the viewing of various woods. Looking forward to seeing you've found one.

[smojo]

People unfamiliar with the North might have a stereotypical image of pits and heavy industry, but that was largely in the distant past. Its now a very beautiful part of the UK with far more 'wild' areas than the South and a great region for a holiday (subject to weather).

Ha ha Paws that really cracked me up. I know you weren't trying to be funny but you sound like a southerner speaking now and I know you came from the grim and murky north yourself.

I think you'll find that the wild and beautiful areas were always there. Look at the North Yorkshire moors, the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. They have never been industrialised with any heavy industry - dark satanic mills etc. Of course the rest of the north is still full of grimy men in flat caps, chewing on a piece of black pudding and walking their whippets (but they tend to talk with an eastern European accent for some reason) but we're getting there slowly. We now mostly have running water and indoor toilets.

[oldclaypaws]

Excuse this momentary digression Campievanner while I edumacate Smojo, who is apparently totally oblivious to his regions industrial history.

Look at the North Yorkshire moors, the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. They have never been industrialised with any heavy industry - dark satanic mills etc

Really?

North York Moors- (from NorthYorkmoors.org)

The North York Moors is an important area for industrial archaeology. Mining (for alum, iron, coal and jet) and quarrying (for stone, sands and gravel) have always played a part in the local economy.

Lake District-

Mining and quarrying have long been significant activities in the Lake District economy. Mining, particularly of copper, lead (often associated with quantities of silver), baryte, graphite and slate, was historically a major Lakeland industry, mainly from the 16th century to the 19th century. Coppiced woodland was used extensively to provide charcoal for smelting. Some mining still takes place today; for example, slate mining continues at the Honister Mines, at the top of Honister Pass. Abandoned mine-workings can be found on fell-sides throughout the district. The locally mined graphite led to the development of the pencil industry, especially around Keswick.

Yorkshire Dales-

The most valuable mineral resource found in the Dales was lead ore. Documentary evidence indicates lead mining from medieval times onwards and by the 18th and early 19th century, parts of Swaledale and Wharfedale are almost entirely given over to the mining and processing of the lead ore. Coal mining was also carried out on quite a large scale in some parts of the Dales. Along with locally dug peat it was used to fuel lime kilns and lead smelt mills as well as for use in the home. The limestone of the Dales, as well as yielding rich mineral veins was also exploited as a resource in its own right. Hundreds of small, local quarries supplied building stone and stone for burning in lime kilns. Slaked lime was an important ingredient in producing lime wash and plaster. More specialised quarries, such as those at Burtersett and Askrigg, supplied a wider area with stone roofing slates while Dent ‘marble’ was sold to fashionable Victorian homes all over the country. Lead mining survived the longest of most of the Dale’s industries, finishing around Grassington in the 1890s although spoil heaps there were reworked in the 20th century for valuable minerals such as barytes. The main industry surviving in the Yorkshire Dales today is quarrying. Crushed limestone from Dales quarries is used to build roads all over Britain.

[Campievanner]

Nothing wrong with a bit of distraction about our heritage. I am originally from further North than I now live (North Northumberland) so know all about mines and whippets.
Flat caps can be really good - I love a good hat - but not a wooly one as I just don't suit them.

Your help is being really good and giving us lots of pointers.

[oldclaypaws]

I didn't know anyone could live in North Northumberland, apart from my daft brother who lives in a hovel somewhere halfway up The Cheviot. I call it a hovel, but its really a hole in the bog filled with stagnant water, you understand. Most of his close friends are either sheep or imaginary. The trees up there (I think at the last count there were two, clinging to life by a thread) are what I call 'Muslim Trees'. They tend to grow stunted to a max of about 5 feet, and are leaning towards Mecca at 45 degrees, blasted by the constant icey gales off the Pennines. His Mrs manages a country estate of a few hundred acres owned by the family of a former PM in the National Park, and he has sole access to one of the best private stretches of Salmon fishing in the country upstream of The Tweed , for free, so he's in heaven. Challenging place to live, he's always getting snowed in.

I was raised there but left Northumberland when I was 18, go back only occasionally dressed in National uniform of flat cap to visit Dad, he's approaching 90 and still in fine fettle.

[Campievanner]

I know exactly what you mean about the wind. And anyone who has ever been in the North Sea for a plodge knows how cold that is.
My Dad was a postman covering a large round in his P.O. Landrover in the Cheviot foothills . During the Winters it was weeks before he saw some of the farmers on his round. Most people I talk to say they would love to live rural, but like you I left at college age and do the family thing a few times a year.

We are off today to look at a wood and combine it with a weekend in the van. So will let you know how we get on.

[smojo]

Paws - I knew you'd have an answer to my sweeping statement and I knew it would be mostly about quarrying. Yeah fair do's. I was really thinking about the mills and factories that the north is more renown for. We still have a lot of crappy cities and towns but then so does the south and midlands for different reasons. I'm thinking Coventry and Milton Keynes for starters. Enough of that nonsense now. Back to the topic.

[oldclaypaws]

I'd suggest anyone about to buy a wood will learn a great deal from googling and casually talking to neighbouring land owners about its past occupants and history, stuff that doesn't appear in the title deeds. Some of that will be good, some maybe less so, but its all part of its history and could be very useful. You'll maybe also learn about any local gossip, characters, unwelcome visitors and general grapevine stuff, plus who used to own it and what they did there. It can throw up surprises.

Ours had an extraordinary history, although that was only revealed by myself doing a load of research at the county record office and on the web, none of it was in the sales details- or for that matter any mention of the timber value. Its quite something to find links to the past and old maps of your wood, it gives you a sense of your place in history. Many parcels of land have been owned by the gentry and gradually sold off (mine includes 2 Kings, a High Sheriff, a Lord Mayor, an Abbey and Duke/Lord Protector).

I was able to find the history of Smojo's wood by googling, and some of the recent history. From an archaeological point of view both Smojo and myself have some good stuff, and I seem to recollect there's a crashed buried Spitfire somewhere next to Dexter's.

The last couple of weeks I've been continuing the gratifying but exhausting process of cleaning up the area round the edge of my old filled in pond (or should that be 18th Century clay pit). I only learnt about the history of 'travellers' there from a local farmer. There's a ton or two of rubbish to be scraped off the area bordering their pitches, but the positive is I have excellent access and a substantial useful area of hard standing (about 1/3rd of an acre). This was all hidden under undergrowth prior to the sale. None of this was on the sales details, it was local knowledge. After I've finished clearing it up, creating parking and putting on a shed, it'll be one of the woods best features. It would have been useful to know prior to buying it and might have bumped the price higher had it been known. -So a bit of digging below the surface can add a deal of useful information, or in my case milk bottles, wing mirrors and plastic dolly parts.