With the recent spell of fine weather, some people may have wandered down memory lane and recalled “the summer of 76”.  Then, the temperature reached 80oF from June 22nd through to the 16th July, and for two weeks the temperatures in some areas exceeded 90oF. However, temperature was not the only environmental factor to stress plants – lack of rainfall or drought was also a major factor.  The previous autumn had been quite dry, as was the winter of  1975–76.   The drought became most severe during the summer months - with woodland, forest and heath fires breaking out.  Crop production was also severely affected, and there was water rationing (and stand pipes) in some areas. Ecologists* from the University of Stirling (Professor Alistair Jump) and the JNCC have recently investigated the (long term) effects of the 1976 drought on native woodland.   They examined the records of Lady Park Wood in the Wye Valley.  This 45 hectare Nature Reserve was ideal for a detailed study as there existed long term records  / surveys Read more...

We are all dependent on ecosystem services even if we are not quite sure what they are.   At the most basic of levels, early humans benefitted from the products of nature (fruits and seeds to eat, animals to hunt) - that is, food or provisioning .   Shelter from the harsher aspects of climate and weather was also needed and provided; be it by the canopy of woodlands and forests, or the branches and other materials in woodlands used to make a simple shelter. Ecosystem services permeate every aspect of our lives. Take soil, for example ‘Where would we be without fertile soil ?’  Obviously fertile soils provide us with the best conditions for our agricultural crops and for maximising growth in our greenhouses and orchards, but beyond that soil has many important functions. The organic material of the soil, humus, can absorb and retain water.   It plays a vital role is the regulation of water run-off.  Read more...

Nick Humphrey is the curator of the new furniture gallery at the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) and he points out the paradox that a museum thought of as specialising in furniture did not, until late last year, actually have a dedicated furniture gallery.   It has plenty of galleries for particular regions or cultures but it didn't have one just for furniture. This new furniture gallery is also arranged unusually - rather than looking at one period, is it set out by techniques of manufacture, so that there is a section on joints and others on carving and on finishes. Read more...

At the end of the last Ice Age, the recolonisation of the British Isles began.  Plant and animal species moved across the 'land bridge' that connected us with continental Europe.   Trees and other plants began to colonise and forest formed in many places.  As it took some time for the climate to warm, the first forests were probably coniferous – resembling the Caledonian Forests that can still be seen in Scotland today.   These early forests and woods would be characterised by pine, birch, aspen, rowan, juniper and perhaps oak.   At one stage, it is thought that such forest / woodlands covered some 15,000 km2 – a vast area.   Now, only a few remnants of this once enormous ecosystem survive in Scotland. The Caledonian forest / woodlands represent a unique ecosystem in the British Isles – they are remnants of the vast wilderness that once existed here; and across on the Continent – as  boreal coniferous forest. These forests and woodlands are populated particularly by the Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris).  One of the larger tracts of this native pine forest is Read more...

Two days of outdoor chair-making would be some people's idea of heaven. Dominic Parrette finds such people and teaches them to make armchairs from willow. The course that I visited had three people on it and took 2 days.  It was not only about learning how to work the willow,  but  also ending up with a finished chair. The willow is grown locally and it is cut about 2 months before being used,  so that it's still wet enough to bend but not too brittle. Bending is done by putting the willow branches on a round former, which Dominic made from an old cable drum. In effect,  the drum is for pre-bending which prepares the willow branches to be shaped into arms and supports for the back of the chair, Read more...