We are not experts and are learning as we go, but we have the help from people who do have expertise.

We know the canopy is too dense. That means not enough light gets to the woodland floor, so there is not enough fruit or flowers to sustain a healthy balance of wildlife. We have to open up the canopy in a planned and managed way to allow light and air in. We now have the necessary permissions to start this work, but will plan to do it outside of the bird nesting season.

We need to create a mosaic of different habitats within the area we own, some scrub, some coppice, some dead wood (fallen and standing), open rides and glades. This will encourage the greatest range of different flora and fauna to call the Copse "home".

To this end, we have drawn up a ten year management plan and applied for a felling license to allow us to do the work - all this with advice from people who know what we need to do! The necessary permissions have been granted and so the big things can begin! We started coppicing and hedgelaying in autumn 2020 which will continue each year. We hope to be able to do some drastic work on the conifer plantation at the end of 2025. First, we need to create the infrastucture so we can remove the lumber cut. That process has begun and we will continue to work on it over coming months. 

All the work will be dependent on weather, what wildlife we find here and, cost. So while we have a plan and permissions, there will be a degree of flexibility and we may not achieve all we aim to.

We have to be careful about what is removed as we do not want to allow strong winds to cause more damage than necessary, so will be working closely with tree surgeons and foresters to make maximum impact at minimum risk to the wood. 

The Sweet Chestnut in the North Eastern corner has been left too long between coppicing and harvesting and many of the trees are in a bad way. So, we will be seeing if we can do some significant work here to remove the hanging wood and coppice some of the trees to see if they will recover at some point in the future.

We hope that the wood will regenerate naturally, but where it does not, we intend to replant, using as much material grown on site as we  can, but certainly all native grown.

Because of climate change and the increased risk of pests and diseases, we have been advised to ensure the species of trees is at the maximum the wood can sustain, so we are intending introducing a few new species, but all are native to the UK and examples of some of them can be found locally. However, one species the Forestry Commission has asked us to plant is the rare Wild Service tree. They are not currently on site so that will be interesting!

Another important thing we want to achieve is to make the wood a beautiful and safe place to walk through, using the designated rights of way. The bridleway has now been  improved and we are delighted! This is thanks to Hampshire County Council Countryside Department, the British Horse Society, Cllr Derek Mellor,  Ashford Hill Parish Council, Baughurst Parish Council and members of our local community who donated towards the cost. Thank you to everyone who has donated to enable this to happen.

We reached our financial target for improving the Brenda Parker Way and have completed improvement work here.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has donated or physically given time, cakes and moral support to enable this to happen. It will be a real improvement for the whole community and has been a huge community effort to do it.

Cyclists, you are welcome, but please dimount and push bikes along the footpath. Horse riders - you too are welcome, but please keep to the bridleways and think about how fast you are travelling and how much damage you are doing to the bridleway surface if you canter or gallop. We have worked so hard and want the public rights of way to remain in good conditioon for everyone for as long as possible.

We also used Goodwood Tree Surgery to identify and remove the trees which were close to the public right of way and which were obviously dangerous as soon as we moved here in autumn 2019. We had another round of checking and taking out trees we or the tree surgeon were concerned about  in 2020, 2021 and 2022. This will be reviewed every year to keep the footpaths (as marked on the OS map and recognised by Hampshire County Council) as safe as possible. However, we are learning that even trees that look to be in good health can hide secrets. All trees are liable to shed or drop without warning. Anyone using the facilities of the Copse does so at their own risk. While we do check the public rights of way regularly, we can not do this through the whole copse yet, so respectfully ask that you remain on the public rights of way for your own safety.  

As requested by the Natural England Rangers, we opened up the first glade (by coppicing the hazel) at the northern end of the bridleway during winter 2020/21. This allowed bluebells to flourish there again last spring and the butterflies were flying deeper into the woodland looking for food. The brambles flowered more where there was more light, so more nectar and more berries. This is food for insects, small mammals and hence creatures further up the food chain and we have some proof that dormice are showing an interest in returning. This year, the wood anemones were a true spectacle and there were more primroses. This is all the proof we need that this is the right approach. The Hampshire Biodiversity Information Centre survey on 27th April 2022, confirmed that the ground flora is at its best where coppicing and canopy openning has been undertaken. Thank you to all our volunteers, without whom, this would have been impossible.

We have had an area of scrub and poorly silver birch removed on the west of the bridleway to open up an old working forest track ready to remove the conifers we fell and this has created a natural glade. The work looked even more drastic as the neighbouring landowner harvested some oak at the same time. We have coppiced here and replanted sections of this with different species of native trees (including lime and elm) but the intention is to leave the central part clear  as a working area through which we can remove lumber. We have noticed just how wet  bits of  this area gets through this winter, so  have dug out a 'scrape' to hold water like an ephemeral pond. This has been very successful and frogs are using it within weeks of it being created. There is a hibernacularium we have built beside the pond, using sticks and branches as the base, covered with soil from the excavation and then vegetation as a thatch. This should provide habitat for amphibians and reptiles as well as insects and small mammals.

On the other side of the bridleway, we have found evidence of an old forestry track and are clearing that again to make an east west 'ride'  (like a long glade) which is apparently the best for wildlife.  this will also be used as a working forestry track to remove lumber from the woodland.

This all provides different habitats and it will be interesting to see the effect.

Also, we wish to thank everyone involved with the summer 2022 flower festival at St Stephen's Church,  Baughurst. We were given a generous donation from the proceeds, towards the work on site.