I was in for four surprises and none of them was a teddy bears’ picnic. Well it started out bad.

Surprise number 1 – I was about ten minutes from the wood when my phone rang to tell me my 93 year old mum had pressed her alarm button and my wife was on her way to find out why. It’s becoming a regular event now, she keeps falling and can’t get up. When you get that call, you’re instantly in panic mode because you don’t know what you’re going to find. This time she “dodged the bullet” again and got away with bruising. For a while I thought I was going to have to turn around and go straight back but there was no need.

Surprise number 2 – I looked at the BBC weather forecast the day before and there was no mention of rain at all. So it might have been a surprise for the forecasters too because by the time I reached the wood it was pouring down.

Surprise number 3 – Arriving at the main gate I discovered the a dozen or more vehicles parked along the ride-side. No not 21st century teddy bears, professional foresters. It looked debateable as to whether I could get access. They were clear felling an area where power lines run through the wood. Huge machines and lots of men in bright yellow clothing like busy bees. They needed to do it to safeguard the lines from falling trees. I had a chat with them later and took some photos.

Clear felling an area for the power lines

Felling on the other side of the main ride

So having sat in my car for 10 minutes for the rain to ease, I decided it could go on for a long time and that I better make the most of it and put up my tarp. I’m glad I had a dummy run with it last time so I knew exactly where to put it and how to erect it, but I still fumbled my way through and realise I need to practice my knots a bit more. I sat for awhile wondering how I would spend a rainy day under a tarp. I have secretly wanted to spend a rainy day there out of curiosity but of course would never choose one deliberately because it severely restricts what you can do. But there’s something very relaxing about watching rain gently falling especially in a wood. The pattering sound on the tarp and the leaves twitching now and then as a big droplet hits them. Nothing else to do but enjoy the experience.

I like to embrace new ones, you learn something each time and it makes you think outside your usual box. “How could I have done that better?” So I decided to make a brew and gathering enough dry twigs for the fire was a challenge. I’d put some under cover to keep dry but there was only just enough. So I made a mental note to stock up next time I go. I’ve been wanting to make some charcloth for my firesteel so I’d brought the equipment to do it. Didn’t know if it would work on my hobo stove but it was worth a try. Charcloth is made my putting strips of cotton cloth in a sealed tin and heating it over a fire. The tin has a tiny hole for the smoke to escape but not allow air in. After a while the cloth becomes black and brittle and works like charcoal – smouldering without burning. It will easily take a spark from the firesteel to start your fire. It worked to a degree, the strips on the bottom were nicely charred but the upper layers only half done. Next time, I’ll turn the tin over after ten minutes. Here’s some photos of the equipment.

Making charcloth in a tin

A piece of the newly made charcloth glowing after using it with my flint and firesteel

After a while the rain eased a little and I ventured out to do a few jobs. That’s when

Surprise number 4 arrived – two of my woodland neighbours. I’m always pleased to see some neighbours and we had a good chat and a wander down to the tree felling guys for a “nosey”. It’s great to swap notes and woodland stories with your neighbours. After that I set too, clearing the camping area again. This is the third sweep and I think I’m getting the better of the bramble and bracken. The small bramble plants that have emerged since the last time, were hacked and pulled with a hoe to try to finally rid their tenacious roots. I’m hoping the nearby grass that is quite lush now, will colonise that area soon.

third clearing of camp area

Whilst clearing this area I should say surprise number 5 (a bonus surprise) was found. About four oak saplings and one beech sapling are growing there. They must have germinated this year as the whole area was cleared in winter and they would have been mashed. What is so nice about it is that by ridding the ground of the bramble and bracken, it is starting to recover and regenerate – not just with wild plants but with trees too, which was I’d hoped for. A nice result.

By mid afternoon the rain clouds were gathering again and I started to pack up. A final walk and look around my clearing revealed something odd going on in the plot next to mine. About half a dozen young sycamore trees have suddenly died. A closer look revealed that the bark as been completely stripped off. This has to be the work of those little grey blighters from the USA. No not the old pensioners – the squirrels. Funny how they have targeted those particular trees. Anyway all in all it was quite an eventful day – some good, some not so good but different. What next?

Young sycamore killed by bark stripping squirrels

Water on the boil for a nice coffee and some quite contemplation

Home made hobo stove and army billy can

Lets start the day with a nice cup of coffee brewed on a smoky flame sitting in the woods. How much better does it get? I always have a few objectives when I visit the woods. A mixture of essential maintenance jobs, on-going projects and maybe some bushcraft related play time. Yesterday my list included, chopping logs to bring home, trying out my new tarp and maybe some felling/thinning out. I got an early start so it felt like a leisurely morning, so first things first – coffee. It’s such a lovely relaxing time, the smell of wood-smoke drifting around, the unseen birds singing and the dappled sunshine. I bought a cheap plastic garden chair to keep there just for an extra bit of luxury and comfort and when you’ve spent a few hours logging, you really appreciate a backrest. I’d watched a video on how to make tent pegs from hazel sticks so while drinking my coffee, I set about making a few to use with my new tarp. The knife is a Mora. They are very cheap but pretty good. A popular knife for beginners in bushcraft.

Hand made tent pegs from hazel sticks

Next job, fill up my bird feeders which were completely empty as usual. Whack a few merging bracken and bramble shoots on the way too. The regrowth where I cleared it is rampant. I should take my brushcutter next time and go over it again before it gets out of hand. The task of controlling the bramble is enormous and for a few moments, it felt overwhelming for one person with limited time. I have to remind myself not to let it stress me and whatever I can achieve will be good and should be enjoyable. I chopped some more logs for home and have nearly filled my logstore at home now. A nice satisfying feeling which must dig deep into our psyche from when we were hunter gatherers. Plenty of fuel would have been an essential for keeping warm and cooking, basic survival stuff.

I’ve been itching to try my new tarp. It’s a DD Hammocks 3×3 metre tarp, considered one of the best I think. Basically it’s a square sheet of waterproof nylon with tie down loops along the edges and across the middle. You can configure them in many ways but the simplest and most useful for me is simply to use it like a roof. For those who don’t know anything about using them, they are pretty simple and quick to put up. First you need to erect a ridge line between two trees to support the tarp, usually using paracord. As the tarp is 3m long, I figured I needed to find two smallish trees roughly 4.5-5m apart. I identified two possible places close to my table and set about clearing the ground of fallen sticks and the odd bramble. There are two special knots used to tie the line to the tree which I have been practising. So one end secured, I threaded the other through the ridge loops and tied it to the other tree as taut as possible. The next bit is crucial and pretty clever. You need to stretch the ridge taut and anchor it to the line. You do this with two prusik loops. These need to be a strong cord of slightly smaller diameter than the ridge line, you make your own. The loop is wound around the line in a special way that makes it easy to slide until it’s under tension, then it grips the line and holds it tight. A bigger version is used by climbers. So you fit one at each end of the tarp and attach the loop to the tie-down using a small stick, pulling the second one tight to stretch the tarp. Sounds complicated but it’s simple as long as you get your prusik knot correct. A picture is worth a thousand words so here you have it.

Blue prusik knot and hazel twig supporting the end ridge loop of the tarp

I anchored the four corners to the ground and “bob’s your uncle” you’ve got your temporary shelter. Easy to take down as the knots used are quick release. I tried the taro in two different places and although they were good, not ideal so I’ll continue the search for the best location. Here’s some shots of it from different angles.

DD tarp

tarp

tarp

I still had an hour or so left and decided to fell some small sycamore trees. The area is very dark, sycamore is very shade-heavy and I have lots of it. Taking a few weak or sickly trees down will let more light in and benefit the other trees an the ground flora. Now felling trees gives me very mixed emotions. It feels a bit like vandalism and so there’s a guilt aspect to it. It somehow seems a bit “naughty” but it’s an essential part of maintaining a healthy woodland. It needs to be done. Then there’s a mix of fear and excitement. It’s a dangerous task, especially on your own (not really recommended but I have no choice). You can kill or seriously injure yourself. But it’s kind exciting too as it crashes to the ground. There’s an element of unpredictability too. You assess the lean of the tree, where you want it to drop and make your cuts accordingly. As you make your final felling cut, there’s a moment you watch for, where the tree slowly starts to lean. That’s the time to remove your saw and head diagonally. If your looking where your going (good idea), then you don’t see the tree falling. You might just turn round quick enough to see the last shuddering moment as it hits the deck with a whoosh and a wump. Then a moment of relief washes over you. But the jobs not over. You need to de-limb it and either cut it up or move it to a convenient spot if it’s fallen over a track. That’s not an easy task as some of the branches are now under tension and holding the main trunk off the ground. You need to work out which way the stress is, if you cut the wrong side of the branch, the cut will close up and trap the chainsaw and yes, even though warned about it, I got it stuck a couple of times.

It was the end of the day and I was getting tired and perhaps my concentration was waning. I learned another lesson worth remembering. Do your chain-sawing early in the day when your energy is highest and your brain more alert. Although they were quite small trees, the difference in light levels around the area where they had stood was really noticeable. I can see how much different the wood can look when I’ve done a lot more thinning. Can’t wait to get back and take some more down. I didn’t have time to log them up so just left them more or less in situ on the ground. Here’s some photos of the three areas where I felled them.

Felled tree one.

felled tree three, lots more light on the ground now.

Wild honeysuckle flower

It’s been almost three weeks since the last visit and boy did I want to get back there. I had to cancel two planned visits because of weather and an unexpected “event”. Had a stressful week looking after my daughters dog, thunder storms terrify her and we’ve had a few, then she ripped two claws out of two different paws and needed to be taken to the vet, that was the day I had planned to go. But I’ve been there in my head many times. I try to visualise certain areas from memory and make plans for the next visit. Cut up a fallen dead tree to bring back as logs for the woodstove, try my new tarp out (didn’t get around to that one), whack some bramble and bracken where it has regrown, check my coppiced hazel for new growth and add more brash around them for protection from deer and plant some foxglove plants I’ve grown from seed.

The area that I cleared of bramble and bracken in winter, has been sprouting new growth. The idea now is to keep whacking it down to weaken it and hopefully, eventually kill it off. There are signs of that happening with the bracken where I did it earlier. Some of the stalks have not re-sprouted. The bramble will need more intense treatment, maybe a light strimming next visit. While I was whacking I caught a smell of something perfumed. For a moment I couldn’t figure what it could be, then I guessed there was some honeysuckle flowers nearby. There are plants scattered around the woods but so far haven’t seen any actual flowers. I spotted it climbing up a sycamore and there was just this one flower. It’s a beautiful scent, sweet but not sickly.

The Husqvarna chainsaw is doing a good job. I cut up the dead tree in no time and split the logs ready for home. You start to get a bit “trigger happy” after a while and start looking for something to cut. I’ve got a couple of old axe heads I bought on a car boot sale and need some ash timber to make handles. A scout around and I found the ideal piece. It was a log fairly stright limb that had grown from the base of a mature tree but had then died off. So as long as it hasn’t rotted, it should be pretty well seasoned and ready to use. So I set about felling that piece and cutting it down into various handle-sized logs. This little pile should make a good few handles.

Ash logs for axe handles

Next job check the hazel coppice. Yes it’s growing nicely now. I had cut down some small sycamore trees to bring in light, and they are also sprouting healthy new shoots. I shall allow them to grown on for a few years as coppice stools and be able to cut them for stakes and small logs. A nice renewable source. The small brash piled around them needed topping up as the new shoots gain height.

New hazel shoots from one of the smaller stools.

Nice healthy flush of new sycamore shoots

The area could benefit from a bit more light, so while I had the chainsaw warm and fuelled up, it seemed a good idea to take down a small sycamore I had planned on. I haven’t felled many trees yet and it’s one of the scarier aspects of forestry. Trying to get it to fall in a convenient place without injuring yourself are the main considerations. I was keen to avoid it falling on my new coppiced stumps and crushing the shoots. I am happy to say I achieved all three. When you fell a tree, there’s a few seconds of nervous excitement. You need to clear an escape route behind and to the side of the tree first, then as you make your felling cut, you leave a small “hinge” of wood which allows some control over direction and fall and you are watching for the tell-tale sign that the tree is going to go – a slight movement and a creak. There’s a moment of blind faith that it will go as planned, you can’t see the tree as you head back out of the way. Then there’s more creaking and a terrific thump and whoosh as it hits the ground. It’s down and you sigh with relief. Set to work with saw and cut it into logs.

stump of the felled sycamore

All in all it was a very satisfying day, got some good useful jobs done and a good physical workout.

The remains of something’s dinner? A satisfied fox or buzzard maybe?