Nature far from what it once was in this country, with the influence of man present throughout. As well as woodland clearance for agriculture, sheep grazing the uplands are responsible for some of our most iconic landscapes, and many heather moors are the result of management for grouse hunting. What are we as conservationists trying
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Blog Archives
The following is a list of major woodland events and fairs around the country, which may be of interest to both prospective and actual woodland owners. Some are bigger than others, but all have an emphasis on actual woodland management, with many firms represented at them as well as a wide range of activities. A
I’ve been doing relatively little for the last two months, having gone down with a bout of sciatica. Too much activity at Chelfham, particularly with a chain-saw, where I have been trying to pretend that I am twenty years younger than I really am! However, I have been mowing the brambles in the last couple
Defra published the first details about the new grant scheme for woodlands last week. This will now be known as Countryside Stewardship, having been referred to referred to as New Environmental Stewardship Scheme (or NELMS) in earlier consultations. It seeks to combine the previous Environmental Stewardship and Woodland Grant Schemes. A bit more information was
I’ve commented before on my poor photography, so this time I am unashamedly plagiarising from Rosanna, who is taking on the ownership of Riverside Wood at Chelfham. Rosanna has had a motion triggered camera on site for a few weeks, and has taken some interesting nigh-time shots of a badger sett and also a visiting
Chelfham is one of the woods we purchased from the League Against Cruel Sports, and has been the subject of lots of planning and some improvement works. The main issue at Chelfham has been to provide good access, for both future management and to enable future owners to get around and enjoy the woodland. After
Over the years I have cut and split an awful lot of firewood, but sometimes that can be a waste. For several years I had a small chain-saw mill, which I used to plank up occasional large trunks of timber, chiefly oak. I say small; the bar on the chainsaw (a 95cc Sachs Dolmar) was
I recently joined a Tamar Valley AONB organised woodland day at the local Pentillie estate. The star of the show was not the woodlands, but a Shire Horse called Jack. Horses were of course the main means of extraction for timber, prior to the arrival of tractors and harvesters. In recent years they have been
The Woodland Grant Scheme continues to change as we head towards changes under the new CAP reforms. The main changes recently announced by the Forestry Commission are: • Biodiversity Woodland Improvement Grant (WIG) is now closed • Woodfuel WIGs will close in September. In practice you need to be in queue by now if you
Last month I spent some time at Chelfham Woods, making a start on track improvements. This included some minor tree felling and then working with Roger for three days. Roger is a local agricultural contractor and a dab hand with a tracked excavator! Our original plan had been to undertake all the track works in
