Coppicing is one way of protecting the biodiversity of ancient woodland. Each winter, an acre or so of the woodland is felled, and in the spring a glorious carpet of flowers erupts from what seemed to be barren ground. The next year, too, the flowers may appear, and with them some butterflies and bumble bees enjoying the nectar and the sunshine. But the sunshine also brings out the brambles and bracken and, by the following year, these will have shaded out the flowers. Later in the cycle, the re-grown coppice also shades out the bracken and bramble and the ground returns to its apparently barren condition. So, in order to have flowers and encourage bees and butterflies you need to coppice successive acres each winter, progressively moving over the ground year by year.  But, it’s hard work coppicing.  Is there an alternative? Read more...

There is nothing more satisfying than being able to catch and prepare your own supper.  Alex McKenzie, bushcraft expert, demonstrates how to catch and clean a trout in the first part of the Woodlands tv Bushcraft Series.  Read more...

Everyone knows that cricket is the sound of “leather on willow”, but it’s not any old willow.  Cricket Bat Willow is a variety all of its own – Salix alba ‘Caerulea’.  This fast-growing and straight-stemmed variety of willow produces wood that is tough but lightweight and does not shatter easily - ideal for cricket bats. It’s a skilled business choosing the best wood, and there is a market for good quality cricket bat willow timber.  Logs are split into “clefts” and shaped into the rough bat shape or “blade”.  The ends are then waxed to prevent the wood drying out and splitting. The wood is carefully air-dried over a period of 12 months to the correct moisture content and the blades are graded according to grain, colouring and any small blemishes.  From Grade 1, which is the very best, blemish-free wood, to Grade 4, which will play just as well but will have more blemishes.  The premium bat blades are the whitest with the closest grain.  “Blemishes” on the face of a bat will be variations in colour, inconsistencies of grain, and “specks” - tiny grains of grit taken up into the tree from the soil.  Tiny, “living” knots are confined to the edge of the blade, and larger, “dead” knots are cut out and filled and will only appear on the reverse of a blade. The blades are then passed on to the cricket bat maker.  To make the wood able to withstand being hit by a cricket ball at high speed, it is pressed at a pressure of up to 2,000 lbs but it a matter of judgement for the bat maker.  Too little and the bat will break when used, too much and the wood will be unworkable.  A handle is spliced on and the blade is finally ready for shaping, done by hand with a drawknife, spoke shave, planes and a practiced eye.  A final sanding and coat of wax finishes the job.

In the days before plastic containers, the “trug”, a wooden basket, was the common way of carrying and measuring.  They came in every size, from tiny up to a bushel.  Although they were found all over the country, nowadays they are particularly associated with Sussex and Thomas Smith of Herstmonceux who “reinvented” this ancient style of basket in the 1820s using local materials.  Queen Victoria made the distinctive, shallow garden baskets we are familiar with fashionable when she bought some at the Great Exhibition of 1851.  Read more...

A new and very useful publication is now available from the Royal Forestry Society. “A Glossary of Tree Terms” is an essential reference guide to the terminology of forestry and woodland management, from “acidification” to “yield class”. Read more...

If you have your own woodland you can use its tracks for riding a horse or pony, but most riders also want to go further afield. And, of course, most people don’t have their own wood. Riding on roads can be dangerous and is, anyway, less enjoyable than riding on car-free tracks, so there have been various schemes developed to enable more off-road riding. Read more...

Mike Pepler works for the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy and also owns some woodland near Rye, East Sussex, which he manages with his wife Tracy. Using wood for heating According to government figures (from BERR), heating buildings and water uses about one third of all energy (including transport) in the UK. Much of this energy is supplied by fossil fuels, and so is resulting in large amounts of carbon dioxide being emitted, contributing to climate change. Read more...

The development of the quad bike or All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) has revolutionised farm and forest transport in the more remote areas of the UK. They are often seen in the distance travelling across fields and up hillsides complete with sheepdog on the back to tend distant flocks.  They must be good if the Royal Mail use them! Read more...