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').
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.
