News & Events
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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!…
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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…
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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…
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Woodlands are Punk
Thank you to Dr Rowan Jaines for a fascinating ‘alternative view of woodlands’ webinar on 1st May – for anyone who missed it or would like to watch again, the recording is available here. Rowan discussed the history of the term ‘punk’ and the cross-over between this concept and the transgressive status of woodlands as…
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Lyme Disease Awareness
Many thanks to Morven-May MacCallum for a very informative recent webinar on Lyme Disease Awareness, which is available to watch at any time here. More resources are available on the LDUK website – help spread the word and Be Tick Aware during May, Lyme Disease Awareness Month. Morven-May has provided some useful information and links:…
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Books: Trees of Britain and Ireland
Trees of Britain and Ireland Jon Stokes Princeton University Press WILDGuides series Published 22/4/25 ISBN 9780691224169 Trees of Britain and Ireland, a new field guide by Jon Stokes, Director of Trees, Science & Research at The Tree Council, certainly lives up to its billing as ‘A comprehensive photographic identification guide to all of the native…
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Pet Treatments & Woodlands
Recent research has highlighted the risk of environmental contamination from veterinary drugs regularly applied to dogs and cats to prevent fleas and ticks. A study published today that tested 103 birds’ nests found that they all contained insecticides used in spot-on treatments, shampoos, sprays and collars. The nests belonged to blue and great tits, which…
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Books: The Chainsaw Manual
The Chainsaw Manual Overleaf Publishers Published 31/8/24 ISBN 9781399996686 Spiral-bound paperback, 91 pages A comprehensive guide to chainsaw maintenance and servicing, produced by a qualified NPTC Assessor and Lantra Instructor with 25 years of industry knowledge and expertise. The manual is suitable for both beginner and advanced chainsaw users, from private woodland owners to professional arborists,…
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Timber Hewing Course in Gloucestershire
The Manifest Woodland Guild are organising an open course on timber hewing within their woodland on 14th – 15th February 2025 (Friday & Saturday), with hewing tutors John and Henry Russell. They will be setting the hewing tuition in the context of oak selection and felling, and presentations on woodland ecology. More details are available…