Small Woodland Owners' Group (SWOG)

News & Events

  • Coppicing: The Value of Experience

    Many thanks to Martin Severs for sharing with us the benefits of spending a day with an experienced coppice worker in his woodland. To find out more about coppicing, regional coppice groups and the new Coppice Advisor network, visit the National Coppice Federation. I am a small wood owner in Hampshire and have around seven…

  • Your Favourite Trees

    Many thanks to everyone who entered our National Tree Week book giveaway, it was lovely to hear about your favourite trees. Trees are appreciated for many reasons but there were general themes within the responses of great age and size, feelings of protection, wisdom and wonder, and benefit for wildlife. Not too surprisingly, the mighty…

  • Woodland Heritage webinar

    Grow trees. Use wood. For our future. Many thanks to John Orchard and Rob Penn for a really interesting discussion about promoting the use of homegrown timber from sustainable productive woodlands to encourage a thriving wood culture. Catch up with the webinar and find out more about the charity Woodland Heritage, including how to become…

  • Book Giveaway: The Healing Power of Trees

    To celebrate National Tree Week, we are giving away a copy of The Healing Power of Trees by Olga Terebenina & Gary Evans, Co-Founders of the Forest Bathing Institute, together with Forest Bathing: 50 Nature Connection Cards. The Healing Power of Trees is a beautiful hardback, illustrated with full-page colour photographs, revealing the unparalleled health…

  • Books: The Woodburner Handbook

    The Woodburner Handbook: A Practical Guide to Getting the Best from your Stove (New edition) Anthony Bailey GMC Publications First published 2015, this edition Nov 2025 ISBN 9781784947194 The new edition of The Woodburner Handbook by Anthony Bailey is a useful and attractive guide for anyone considering installing a woodburner, or wanting to get the…

  • Books: Mosses, Liverworts, & Hornworts of the World

    Mosses, Liverworts, & Hornworts of the World: A Guide to Every Order Joanna Wilbraham Princeton University Press Published August 2025 ISBN 9780691265193  Described as a magnificently illustrated guide to the bryophyte species found across the world, Mosses, Liverworts, & Hornworts of the World certainly lives up to its billing. For anyone wanting to get to…

  • British Woodlands Survey 2025

    Have your say about woodland resilience Woodland resilience is perhaps the most important concern for everyone who manages trees and woodlands. It underpins all aspects of management and ultimately affects how trees and habitats will thrive in future. Changes in our environment, whether caused by humans or natural ecological processes, are impacting Britain’s trees and…

  • Wood Fairs 2025

    A round-up of wood fairs and nature festivals being held across the country, updated as details are confirmed. If you would like an event to be added please contact Mary. MARCH Midlands Woodworking Show7-8 March 2025Newark Showground, Nottinghamshire, NG24 2NY The National Outdoor Expo22-23 March 2025NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT MAY Weird and Wonderful WoodA Celebration…

  • Woodland Skills Centre Courses Offer

    The Woodland Skills Centre in North-East Wales offers all members of SWOG a 10% discount on all their courses. Going on one of the courses also gives the opportunity to see their woodland – which is part of the National Forest for Wales and which has just been awarded a gold medal by the Royal…

  • Therapeutic Work for Children Webinar

    At the end of her inspiring webinar on working with children in a woodland setting, Sue Coombes mentioned that she had a story written by her mum, entitled The Wood. It’s about her time growing up in Detroit, discovering a wild wood, eating bird cherries dipped in salt and skipping school to see the violets!…

  • RFS launches Strategy to 2035

    The Royal Forestry Society (RFS) has launched its Strategy to 2035, outlining an ambitious decade-long plan to bring more woods into management and drive an increase in tree cover across the UK. Our Vision: Resilient, productive and diverse woodland and trees are at the heart of a vibrant, sustainable landscape, supported by dedicated people. The…

  • Phytophthora ramorum in Rhododendron

    An article for the Grampian Club bulletin by Dr David Cooke Plant disease strikes at Inbhirfhaolain It is uncommon for my work as a plant pathologist and my mountaineering to overlap but the moment I saw the dying Rhododendron in front of the club hut it was clear we had a problem. I am no…