Well what else should I write about for my last blog of the year? ! When we planted Treragin Wood we included 4,000 Christmas trees as a one off crop, in between the broadleaves. Some succumbed to rabbits, and some never had the right shape, but I probably sold half of them, many through the
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Woodland Blog
The reason the web-site has been very quiet for the last month is because I have been rather busy. Most of the last month has been spent working for Dartmoor National Park, helping them with a Heritage Lottery funded project. A rush job, as they have to submit detailed plans for their stage 2 bid
I’ve been working on a woodland management plan for a farm near Bude in North Cornwall. They have 50 acres of woodland and the new owners are keen to get to grips with the woodlands. A simple summary would be some excellent conifer stands, a bit over 40 years old, but recent broadleaved plantings
Treragin Wood is now 22 years old, and I am into the second year of its first thinning. But already I am having to change my thoughts, with 30% of the woodland being planted with ash, and likely to suffer from ash dieback disease. The original planting mix at Treragin was designed with a firewood
I recently helped run a tree disease identification day on behalf of OPAL (the Open Air Laboratory). The day had been organised by the Caradon Hill Area Heritage Project and twenty people came along to the hall next to St Cleer Church. The morning session started with a fascinating talk given by Tim Kellett of
The last fortnight has been a little gloomy, with the first confirmed outbreak of Chalara fraxinea (Ash dieback disease) in mature ash in Devon. Fifty miles from Treragin and closing! I have been thinking about how to respond when (and I regret it is when, rather than if) the disease reaches us. I included 30%
Things have been quite quiet at Treragin Wood in the last month. I have finally finished filling the new log store, which is three times the size of our first. This is to help run the new woodburner, which is connected to four radiators around the house, in our first attempt at central heating. I
The Tamar Valley was once a renowned area for market gardening, including flowers and fruit. Much was transported to London via the River Tamar and then the railways. Early springs and south facing slopes meant that early season produce was in demand. But the markets declined throughout the twentieth century, as refridgeration and air transport
I recently donated some spare floor insulation to Tony Atkinson of the Cornwall Bat Group. Tony used to work for me, and still does occasional bat surveys for us. This is relevant, because Tony uses the dense foam for making bat boxes, and finds they give much higher occupancy rates than more common timber designs.
This was meant to be Simon’s first blog, as he was planning to attend a Woodland Craft and Beanpole Day in North Hill, near Launceston in Cornwall. But a heavy cold intervened, so the event was missed, but we will give it a plug anyway. Did you know that last week was National Beanpole Week?
