Blog - Energy, sustainability & economics

Yurts, Yurtmakers and camping in a yurt

by Angus, 1 June, 2012, 0 comments

Recently, I visited the Sustainability Centre in Hampshire where a brand new yurt was being erected. Intrigued, I fell into conversation with the yurtmaker, Henry Dowell (of yurtmaker.co.uk). He turns out to be a rather remarkable character and has himself lived in a yurt for over 4 years and learnt how to make them, mostly through trial and error - to me it looked like more trial than error! Henry explained that he makes most of the parts out of "green ash" (ie unseasoned ash timber) which he bends using steam and that process also helps to season the wood so that it will last for many years. All this preparation happens in what he calls his "corner of Shropshire" where ash grows very well and can be milled locally. This creates a new market for ash which is often overlooked but is a very useful timber tree, saving it from being used only as firewood. Read more...

French Forestry

by Angus, 24 May, 2012, 10 comments

French forestry - six times as big as British Forestry If you drive through France on the toll motorways ("peages") you will have seen woodlands through the car window and may have wondered how the French organise their forestry. Not only do they do things differently but they do forestry on a much larger scale than the UK. France itself is more than 2.5 times as big as Britain in area and its woodland cover is much greater. The French have 28% tree cover whereas the UK is only about 12% wooded. The effect of a larger country with denser tree cover is that the french forestry sector is over six times as large as UK forestry. You can get a feel for this larger size when you consider that one French forest alone (Foret des Landes in Aquitane near Bordeaux) is as big as 50% of all UK forestry combined. It covers 12,600 square kilometres (about 112 kilometres by 112 km) and contains vast areas of maritime pine and scots pine and is a favoured location for free-range chickens. Read more...

Greenridge – my wood.

by Graham H, 17 May, 2012, 6 comments

Having been born and brought up in rural Devon and then subsequently spending a career of 50 years at sea, the prospect of retirement with all its encumbrance of zimmer frames and wheel chairs was not sitting too comfortably on my shoulders. A year into this experience, at about the time the wife stopped talking to me, and with the feeling of guilt experienced every morning of really not doing very much constructive with my life, except walk the two Springers the obligatory six miles a day along the coast outside my home - it really felt as if the rot was well and truly starting to set in. That is until one day, whilst exploring a quiet part of Northumberland, I espied a Woodlands.co.uk for sale sign. Read more...

Small Woods Association – a nunnery or a hothouse?

by Angus, 3 May, 2012, 2 comments

The Small Woods Association is a remarkable organisation with three unusual women at the core of it - Jude Walker, its CEO, Angle Pollard who runs their social forestry programme and Diane Wood - the SWA treasurer. For those who notice these things, it's interesting that that their surnames are all related to woodlands and what they do - encouraging walking and pollarding in woods - an illustration of aptronyms perhaps (names which are very apt for the job they do). These women, along with Phil Tidey and their team at the Greenwood Centre, have built up the Small Woods Association into a very effective charity which has turnover of almost 3/4 million pounds and a clear objective of promoting sustainable conservation of small woodlands, but in recent years it has developed a particular emphasis on social forestry, meaning woodland projects with health and social objectives. Read more...

Monterey Pine – Pinus radiata

by Chris, 19 April, 2012, 12 comments

Monterey Pine or Radiata Pine (Pinus radiata) is found naturally in the coastal area around Monterey in California. There, it is under threat from Pine Pitch Canker (a fungal disease), which makes them liable to attack by bark beetles. Monterey pine is to be found growing in milder parts of the UK (where it grows faster than in its native habitat), and in coastal areas as it is resistant to salt spray. The pine is extensively and intensively used in forestry, especially in countries like New Zealand (like the Kaingaroa Forest on the North Island). The monterey pine can be used for erosion control on steep slopes - as it has a widespread and fast growing root system The growth form of the tree is conic at first, but as the tree ages it becomes dome shaped with heavily, twisted branches. Read more...

What's been happening to Scottish Forestry? Tilhill tell all.

by Angus, 16 April, 2012, 0 comments

Tilhill UPM manage many large private forestry estates and produce an excellent annual report on the state of the market both for the land itself and forestry products. Some time back, I went to the presentation of Tilhill's 2011 Forest Market Report which was surprisingly upbeat. The main message was that land values are strongly up, forest product prices are strongly up and volumes of land sold, measured by value, are at historically high levels. Property values have increased about 15% in the year to the end of September 2011, according to Crispin Golding of Tilhill UPM, mainly because: there is increased demand for land from investors who are tax-driven or who are looking for safe havens for cash, or both; timber prices have gone up principally because of high oil prices and the devaluation of the pound (making UK timber forestry output more competitive with foreign countries including the Baltic States who are enormous timber exporters). Read more...

Renewable energy from solar energy and woodfuel

by Angus, 5 April, 2012, 17 comments

People respond emotionally to wind turbines but seem happy to see their neighbours installing solar panels. This acceptance of solar made me keen to install solar panels at home, which we have just done. The process has taught me a lot, not least because it showed me how ignorant I was about the economics of domestic energy use - whilst we all know the cost of petrol few of us are aware of the price of a unit of domestic electricity - maybe physical volumes are easier to understand than something that goes down wires and is measured in confusing units. Our 19 solar panels produce about 3.5 kilowatts, so if our annual production is about 1,000 hours we should produce 3,500 kwH of energy which turns out to be a high proportion of our domestic useage. Many British homes consume about this amount each year, so if I am able keep our consumption down we might even become net exporters. Read more...

My Wood

by Matt Marples, 22 March, 2012, 9 comments

Some of you may know me as I’m the Regional agent for East Anglia. I own my own wood and wanted to share with you my wood over the year. I’m often asked by owners on what commitment in terms of work a wood entails. This will depend on the woodland and your needs and aspirations. However, I thought it might be useful to give a regular update on my own woodland. I’m blessed with the best wood in the world or that’s what I think. It’s my wood. It’s called Snipes wood after one of my old dogs and it is 150 metres from my back door and surprisingly despite spending my working life in woodland - I love every moment I spend in it yet do very little work with it. First thing every morning I walk around the wood with “Stig “the dog and love seeing the sun rise as I head back for home. Read more...

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Wild Flower Guide

Read our guide to wild flowers of woodland and hedgerow

Woodlands.co.uk