So what's happening right now?

Autumn has arrived......

And Felling of conifers is complete! This needed to be done as the trees were planted as a crop many years ago and never harvested. As a result, they were 130+ feet tall, thin and dangerous. We will be replanting with native broad leaved deciduous trees over the next couple of years. For now, the land rests. The process of the mulch rotting will begin, and we hope to start replanting early in 2026. We have just heard that we have received a generous grant from the Tree Council and National Highways and so should take delivery of <2500 trees shortly. It is very exciting.

We also have a license to thin out the oak and this will also be done from mid September. As this work is taking place in the old woodland we will be using a contractor who works in a more sensitive way, using floating tyres and doing as little damamge to the soil ecology as possible. He will also be looking to retain trees which provide good habitat and only taking out those which will give maximum benefit to the woodland through their removal. We will be identifying potential 'veteran trees of the future' and halo felling around them to give them maximum chance of becoming old men/ women of the woods! A very strategic operation!

Footpath work was finished along the Brenda Parker Way in summer 2024. Thank you again to everyone who has helped make this possible.  

Cllr Mellor has made a generous contribution, which has been a huge help. Thank you!

Please do stick to it now to avoid doing damage to the ground flora. Thank you.

 in earnest as the bird nesting seaon is over and any dormice should be snug in their over wintering hibernation holes in the ground. Our plans for this year are 

1. Open up the footpath which runs north of the gallops. The Rights of Way team put in a beautiful new bridge so we plan to control the holly along that path and hopefully create a new scrape to ease the water problem at the top of the gallops.

2. We don't plan any proper coppicing this year as we have already had so much clearance, but with any material we can salvage from work we are doing, we plan to repair or finish hedges.

3. The outdoor learning area needs clearing andfacilities putting in place for local schools to use this resource.

4.  If our tree application is successful, we will have loads of baby trees to get into the ground this winter. We will definitely be doing some planning and planting work anyway.

If you want to join us you'd be more than welcome! Check out the events page for dates and email us so we can add you onto our volunteer list.

We hope the winter is hard this year, so that those animals that hibernate can get a full winters sleep and not wake, burning up their limited resources.

We  spotted a very wet area beside the bridleway last year and decided to use that to make an 'ephemeral pond' or 'scrape', much as wild pigs would do in a woodland. The area was dug out last summer and we have lined this with bentonite and created a habitat beside it using the spoil from the digging, some logs and vegetation to create a thatch. We hope this will provide an overwintering home to amphibians, reptiles and insects. The scrape held water better than the scrapes along the Brenda Parker Way, so we chose a good spot for it! 

We recently had a visitor to site who is knowledgeable about fungi. It seems we have a good selection! These amazing life forms are so crucial to the health of the woodland and very under rated. Please enjoy and respect them when you spot them! They are popping up all over the place!

So, if you see us at work, do come and say "hello". We love to chat about what's going on and it is a great excuse for a short break too!