August 2021

The last 'summery' Bank Holiday of the year, so a quick push to boost stock levels of barbecue charcoal made in the woods...

A reasonably productive yield, slowly and steadily graded and bagged up over a couple of days.

Other work has been addressing trees around the periphery of tracks, where grey squirrels have 'ring barked' the growing layer (usually about 3 metres down from the tree top) and killed the top growing leader of the tree.

Along the footpath, this has also given opportunity to widen the path margin edges for light, so a shrub and scrub level can develop for biodiversity.

Other intervention work on the trees is addressing Ash Dieback Disease (ADB) - here the dying trees are dry enough to go straight into the charcoal kiln.

As per national and research guidelines, resilient trees are left, in the hope that their seed leads to genetic resistance. For now, noticeable gaps will be replanted with a mix of Alder, Hazel and Birch.

I've put up a weatherproof info board at one end of the path in the woodland, this has some overview info regarding how the woodland is managed, as well as what work activities and wildlife are likely to be seen month by month...

Elsewhere, I've been following some conservation activities in places I get to around Wiltshire - one area of interest has been conservation grazing cattle at Savernake Forest. A wander further north to a 'Dr. Beeching' disused railway near Marlborough, highlighted some lapsed hazel coppice. There was evidence of (probably 1980s / 90s) conservation tree planting, but also at least one cycle of coppice cutting that seems to have now been overlooked.

Over towards Avebury Stone Circle (after a minor diversion to compare a similar farm estate woodland to my own), I finally tracked down and chatted to the person managing the (quite rare) White Park Cattle.

At some point, I'm still considering low density / high welfare very small herd of cows in the grassland areas of the woodland. This is with particular emphasis and research on how they would moderate the vegetation in a few defined areas.

Also, some very good news from The Royal Forestry Society, regarding how I manage my woodland.

After an on-site assessment by two Chartered Foresters for the RFS, I have been awarded a Certificate of Merit in their Excellence in Forestry awards. 

Thank you to those that have helped along the way with this - particularly the inspiring folk at Alvecote Wood and Bulworthy Project in sharing their outlooks, when I first committed to moving my own woodland efforts forward...

July 2021

 With a few farm and land sales and changes in the locality recently, it got me thinking about my own journey and some of the external dynamics of landscape custodianship..

Short rotation coppice energy crops going in the neighbour's fields

Generally, with a bit of prior research, visits to other projects and assessing site suitability, deciding on a conservation or woodland project site is very positive and uplifting.

Sometimes, you come up against some external or contrived challenges...

"So what are you doing with the woodland?"

More precisely it's realistically "What is he going to do with the woodland?"

As a responsible owner / custodian / operator, these days you will be the last to know when other people beyond 'genuinely interested' start getting their teeth into things and interpreting in their own way, what your ownership and activities mean...

A slightly general observation, but something a few folks with their own woodland, permaculture plot, private allotment or wildlife patch encounter.
I used to think random folk were genuinely interested, but something changed with public attitudes - particularly about 15 to 20+ years ago.
Gone are the days on the rural fringe when some passing local character takes time to chat and maybe comment "You're doing a grand job there, Mon." Years of their own knowledge and experience under a weathered exterior.

By the 1990s it's initially morphed into a (probably genuinely interested) "Excuse me, what are you doing?"
Then into "I don't know what he's doing, but is he allowed to do that?"
Reaching a climax in more recent times via Facebook etc. "Does anybody else know what's happening down xyz lane?" Or "Hello, is that the Council, there's someone cutting at trees and hedges in the fields by me..."

It's not just individuals with their own small projects - conservation groups and agricultural colleges and forward thinking rural estates, all doing informed and responsible habitat management, or restoration at what's become someone's favourite dog-walking patch - ending up with 'Dismayed residents anger!' in a local headline or regional evening TV news. 

There are of course two sides - public engagement or prior information from the person managing the habitat helps inform the wider community, versus nearby residents mixing up development fears with little knowledge of responsible conservation and countryside management.

The latter is an interesting dynamic. It's repeated throughout village margins of England and Wales.
Yes, inappropriate and large scale development is a genuine concern - particularly as formal planning controls may seem to be weakening where a large developer comes up against a resource strapped Local Authority (but that's not going to change anytime soon with perceptions of and attitudes to, housing demand type).

On a smaller scale, one has to consider calling 'NiMBY' - Not in MY Back Yard.
From various forums I'm in and direct experiences of other small scale woodland custodians, there is a certain dynamic where folk in relatively new houses next to open fields or woods, get rather twitchy at the thought of possibly newer houses going opposite / behind them. Sorry, unless you are in a National Park or AONB - you've bought a house not a view.
By all means, buy the field behind you if you have concerns - or if more publicly spirited, set up a Trust or CIC for a village wildlife or nature area for the land.
Don't think cutting a gate in your back fence, chucking your grass-clippings and garden waste over, or letting your dog run free gives you a stake over somebody else's land.

On the one hand it's good that folk take an interest and care about their surroundings, but there is a deeper, darker side...
Folk not prepared to fund raise or dip in their own pocket to actively steer a responsible direction for their surrounding area, but upset somebody else is doing something they don't (want to) understand. Worse still, an irrational and emotive sour grapes grudge that somebody else has it and is doing something with it (or if really sensitive to a specific stasis habitat appearing not to be doing anything with it).
Bitterness is quite common, probably keeps solicitors in business, certainly adds to a Planning Officer's inbox, as well as a bit of overtime for a rural Police team, when disagreements over the fence overheat on a Bank Holiday weekend.

mini meadow by the woodland pond

The weirdest 'public relations' encounter I've had, was somebody assume I was on 'Community Service' whilst I was replanting part of my orchard hedge next to a public footpath. They were rather concerned as to whether 'The Landowner' would be happy with what was going on.
Judging by the look they gave me, they were rather surprised to find I was the land owner - the conversation continued with somewhat affected gestures waving towards what I thought was a pretty obvious Traditional Orchard:-
"So what exactly is all this then, are you going to build something here?"
"Erm no, it's a traditional / heritage varieties orchard on marginal farmland that floods..."
"Oh, I suppose you get a grant then for all that, it'll be our money paying for it then!"
"Not really Madam, with a pretty responsible long-term job, everything you see here has been paid for out of my own arse pocket!"
She's not been back with any more questions...

Two other NiMBY cases I've been following elsewhere got a bit formal and definitely hinge around petty aspects of envy that then fester and escalate.

1. A small plot of land gone wild on a village edge next to a detached house comes up on the open market...
A well intentioned purchaser finds a gate has appeared in the side fence, in the time between sale and completion, neighbour states the plot was going to be left to them and they've always had access. Any thoughts of neighbour adverse posession are robustly quashed, but the new acquisition of the plot is on the next month's Parish Council Agenda with local residents 'concerns' - New owner then gets 18 months of Parish Council and Local Authority Planning Department overbearing interest, various legal 'tennis volleys' and after formal representation, a Parish Council Chairman resigns and a Planning Officer moves sideways to a different authority.

2. Two patches of land, large and small - either side of a new road are sold off by a Council at auction...
Larger wooded plot has about 6 houses in a line to one boundary, smaller plot across the road comes up against a hedgeline to other fields.
New owner of wooded plot gets 'challenged' by a resident in one of the houses:-
"Excuse me, what are you doing - this is private land!"
"yes, I know, I completed on it last week."
"I don't think so - we've all clubbed together in these houses and bought it between us!"
"I can assure you that you haven't - I do have a copy of my deeds and plot plan in my van..."
The person representing the line of 6 houses at auction, had bought a plot of land - but unfortunately the smaller plot the other side of the road, not the one they intended behind their houses!
This really started to get ugly over the following weeks...
Local newspaper article "Residents concerns for future of local nature spot"
Minor and more serious vandalism (fencing and vehicle damage).
A push for the Local Authority to impose a tree preservation order - this backfired a little, as the Tree Officer was very sympathetic to remedial and safety related tree work. Local residents were surprised to find the trees with a spray paint dot had an appointment with the chainsaw as part of responsible management - although police and council were called out during workscopes.
The aggreived neighbours had 'concerns for wildlife' - a bit ironic as they had intended to purchase to extend their gardens, arguably a planning 'change of use' consent required and habitat compromised if turned into extensions of domestic gardens.

My own project sites occasionally attract interest - usually when the nearest neighbour is going through the planning process, I get a noticeable increase in folks using the footpath and straying a bit further off course to have a look around...

I still get asked "So what exactly are you doing with the woodland?"
I'm probably more interested in wondering why they are asking, rather than comprehensively explaining.
(I have an info pack, printed or online - it's easier, as explaining "Active Forestry - Traditional coppice and growing trees and enhancing biodiversity." never gets taken seriously as an answer).

A significantly asked question is "Are you going to build here?"
Again I wonder 'why' they ask?

No, I'm not building a house or houses.
Yes, I'm in the middle of building a tractor and wood seasoning shed (Consent granted by the Local Authority back in 2018). But I don't take seriously folk in a line of newish houses (where their neighbours had similar concerns about their houses going up years before), with irrational made-up fears of other new houses and ignorance of rural landscape protections and planning policy conditions.

None of these negative dynamics make anybody feel any better or achieve much, apart from high blood pressure and wasted time and resources...

A slightly weirder question rarely asked to my face (but finding a way back to me from folk in the wider community) is:-
"How did he get that, how can he afford that? How does he make any money?"

The long answer is that in my spare time, I've always done conservation work (and some ad-hoc farm work locally), together with educational courses with various types of groups and conservation sites and it was something I wanted to do from leaving school a long time ago.
Unfortunately the job market in the 1980s was rather challenging. Fortunately leaving school with good science and maths results, I went into science & engineering instead. Despite family directly employed in professional forestry, I was offered a very promising engineering career.
I naïvely thought I could put a bit on one side and buy somewhere to plant up after a while as a project site. (Had the property market not had an upward curve outpacing my savings).
One part of my mainstream job turned out better than expected - a bit 'high risk / high reward' but approx 20 weeks a year off, if I took a particular shift pattern and lived in. A part of conventional life and relationships didn't quite survive and a major health issue created a step change rethink.

A good number of my colleagues had flash cars, fancy houses and 'consumerist' lifestyles - I shunned that (mostly).
Although 4 to 5 times the price per acre than the days I first started saving, the savings converted into investments and giving up on a house move, I made the decision 'now or never' on a 17 acre divested farm young woodland, relatively near home, rather than moving house. (I'd already had a trial run, with an orchard project on marginal land below market rates, together with a 'spare time' conservation degree course at a local agri college - as well as deciding staying with a small modest house on the edge of Chester would actually do me fine).

My main work in north-sea oil & gas was medical / fitness dependent. I knew at some point the time would come when a fortnightly 500 mile round train commute to work out of Aberdeen, helicopter flight 150 miles towards Norway, and a load of challenging work conditions couldn't be justified or sustained. I got another 9 years out of the job whilst making plans and setting the normal affairs of life into a sensible sustainable order (with one medical incident strongly hinting at a prudent 'sooner, rather than later outlook).

So, now self employed and a modest income from sustainable forest products out of the wood gets me by, working hours I choose (particularly around Crohns Disease and other medical complications), surrounded by nature and shaping the future direction of the woodland trees and wildlife for the next 80 to 100 years...

If you've got this far, you'll begin to understand why I don't take people too seriously, when they form opinions without genuine engagement with facts.

If you have conservation ideas and dreams - research you areas of interest and what works, check attitudes in your area, do impact assessments for the chosen site... Enjoy, engage and share what you do as a responsible custodian.

More regular Wurthymp Wood updates on Twitter...

Work journey for the Defender - mower/collector for meadow management

March 2021

A slightly slow start to 2021 and a longer gap between blog posts than intended - although more frequent woodland updates and pictures are on the Wurthymp Wood Twitter feed.

Wet ground conditions still being a bit problematic for woodland and conservation habitat activities after probably the most challenging wet winter in a lifetime. The meadows north of the woodland are part of the natural River Dee floodplain, but record heights, longer duration of floods and frequency / occasions of flooding over this winter gone, seem to be particularly (historically) unusual when combined together.

Obviously 2020 and Covid-19 has been a challenging year for everyone. By year end, the uncertainty for folk in many respects has compromised outlooks ahead.

I normally spend challenging ground conditions and less pleasant weather doing woodland and orchard admin and research in Chester's fantastic Storyhouse Library, a short walk from home. Obviously that has been interrupted with lockdown restrictions - together with all the commercial and cultural interruptions too...

Something pencilled in for the academic year 2020/21, would have been exploring options for an environmental MSc.

Covid restrictions and disruptions limited thoughts around that, but also academia changing with digital distance learning might enable better options for my own circumstances.

I had a reasonable 5 year work management plan and outlook from acquisition of the woods and suddenly I'm into year 7 in the woods and into the looser 10 and 20 year details.

 

The present public interest in 'Rewilding' to some folk, sees management as an unnatural word - however from a long term woodland outlook it is highly imortant.

Wurthymp Wood was open fields 15 years ago, although a responsible planting scheme under professional guidence at the time, it is a compromise on the original grassland habitat and species, versus what the woodland will become over time.

Small woodlands (and some farm woodlands particularly) have rightly been observed as being 'undermanaged'.

The Smallwoods organisation at Coalbrookdale offer excellent resources, courses and information to practitioners and public, as well as its venue being at Ironbridge with an excellent cafe open to the public (in more normal times).

To many 'letting nature take back control' is an important but sometimes misguided concept - particularly where the landscape has been altered after a longer historic agricultural use and occasional step change interventions. These have to be worked around for a successful change or outcome.

I prefer in the areas I work, 'restoration' - an understanding of the long-term imprints on the landscape, the balances of stasis and succession and the overall wildlife ecology that is most suited.

Obviously a lot of judgements to make, but also research of old practices versus modern commentary and publications to interpret what suits - combined at times with primary source landscspe history documents and maps.

On a personal level, making a positive out of challenging winters and personal circumstances, isn't normally too bad for me, particularly with 20 odd acres of naturalistic landscapes to wander and work through. But with a wet winter and libraries, cafes, bars closed, travel restricted and many folk under less pleasant pressures, things hit home a bit. (A chat with a respected creative friend hammered home how productive or inspirational the 'social' in-between places can be, for odd bits of admin planning, shared chat and ideas, whilst separating home and work).

Buzzard on last year's birch Maypole

Winter seemed to drag, wet ground and wet weather making things slow to progress (normally a lot of woodland coppice cutting) at the woods and the access challenging for the first time. (My orchard further into the floodplain edge, peaked at 9 feet of water level)!

 

I normally take a few brief trips through similar landscapes elsewhere - a bit of a busman's holiday, but informative and inspiring, as well as social and relaxing.

I took on the woodland as a project, rather than moving house a few years back - particularly after a decline in health brought a halt to 30 years of high pressure / high reward work.

Fortunately the last 15 years of my main work was an unusual 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off work cycle (if a little inconvenient living on-site halfway between Aberdeen and Norway). It did give the opportunity to research and set up my traditional orchard, lots of visits during leave from work to similar projects and longer term ideas for larger landscape scale conservation projects - both the academic background and preparations, and practical workscopes (Early 1990s I was involved in a hilltop woodland restoration project near Oswestry, that would be seen as 'rewilding' in today's context - home and work commitments at the time meant it was juggle regarding spare time to do a lot more).

 

2020 was however reasonably productive and the healthiest year I've had for over 10 years, I'm guessing reduced random travel and reduced eating variations - as well as strongly concentrating on a lot of positive aspects of shaping the future direction of the woodland, its habitat and wildlife (and being out amongst nature). When first diagnosed with Crohns Disease a good while ago now, my unusual work pattern meant things for a while weren't too disruptive, the unusual shift leave periods initially being a complimentary balance between recovery and plodding on.

At the same time, medical professionals clearly spelled out that things would change. So from a relatively fortunate position I was able to set things in place over a few years to have contingency, rationalised a few things and pondered alternatives for the future. My final year of 'conventional' corporate employment also saw 20+ hospital / medical appointments and eventually having to take time off and a medically informed decision.

The first week of 2021 wasn't so much fun - trying to juggle a compromised immune system around a national Covid-19 surge. Although risk averse, an overnight in hospital hit home on a few practicalities and not being well enough to do much at the woodland, was at odds with the very reason I bought it - so as to be able to work on my terms in otherwise health sustaining surroundings.

A slight backlog added a bit of time pressure to an overdue task to restore and rejuvinate part of the roadside hedge on a bend, before bird nesting time.

Ultimately it will be layed and a few gaps filled in and the creep of blackthorn into the grassland reduced.

(Mainly more light onto the grass, as well as improving driver visibility on the bends with the hedge height back to 'normal').

Initial hedgerow preparations

One problem with hedgerow trees has been Ash Die Back with the regrowth brittle and declining - a few decades of flail cutting has left this as high coppice stumps with main stem rot too. (So down to ground they go).

Hedgerow management is understandably emotive, particularly regarding visual impact and wildlife impact.

This Hedgerow thread on Twitter read step by step, explains why some workscopes initially look brutal, but are potentially better long-term term, as well as the dynamics and risks of modern flail cutting.

Elsewhere at the tea-brewing bench, a few bird feeders get multiple visitors - mainly blue tits, long tailed tits, robins, dunnock, moorhens.

The woods are alive at night with Tawny, Barn and Little owls.

The meadows over the road have the call of curlews at the moment, tgeir habitat being part of the near by SSSI objectives.

There was probably one 'proper winter' spell - the rest of winter mainly being wet weather and wet ground.

The pace of work for coppice cutting somewhat slowed, at what is normally a busy productive period.

Although cutting down trees when there are calls of 'plant more trees' may seem odd - the woodland is a single age plantation.

Transitioning to 7 areas of traditional coppice with standards sequentially varies the height and light and ultimately wildlife biodiversity throughout the site.

Overall, if sensitively continued beyond my lifetime, a stable diverse habitat is maintained.

The meadows over the road had several winter floods, peak at 2 metres height.

With more time and resources I'd be enthusiastic about a traditional meadow restoration long-term project.

When normal social times return, folks visiting for example Mottey Meadows in Staffordshire will get an example of what the UK has lost from the landscape.

Something I missed in 2020 were visits to Oxfordshire Fens Project sites.

My trips out and about usually sweep through landscape projects similar to my own (with obvious exceptions for soil type snd aspect etc.)

I visit 'stable' habitats (although often with conservation professionals and volunteers to keep them stable with succession arresting workscopes),  modern mixed deciduous woodlands 5 or 10 years ahead or behind mine to compare, as well as village and community projects.

Amongst the noise of politics, the uncertainty around Covid, concerns around the climate - my feet up reading on a summer evening in the woods was passed by reading this book - written by a talented young naturalist. Well worth getting a copy.

Grey squirrels in the woods are still a pain, below is a 15 year oak they ringbarked around head height.

It forks just above, so I'm tempted to pollard it at the to see how it goes.

(Some veteran trees elsewhere are demonstrably lapsed pollards).

One of the hares was lost - no outward signs of injury, but it was huge. I suspect old age after a spell of frost, three others still roam the plot.

Even typing up a blog post is impacted by Covid.

I seldom sit at home with a laptop - a shoulder bag with books and journals and tablet end up in independent cafes here and there for lunch, the library in bad weather or a country pub for a bite to eat on the way home. Things would normally flow, as well as the various interactions and social aspects along the way.

One thing of interest over wet winter evenings, there looks to have been an update / revision of the online repository of Welsh Tithe Maps - a fascinating resource as a historic snapshot of land use, owners and tennants.

Conservation and landscape scale restoration can lean on past information for a feeling habitat history...

Today the thermal layers are back on and a decent jacket, and out for a final push on stretch of hedgelaying before too late for this year.