The forecast  for the weekend was looking good but I was surprised when it started snowing on Saturday night. The prospects of seeing my wood under snow had me excited like a little kid. We had a little bit last year but I was keen to see it freshly laid with the hope of finding some animal tracks. As I arrived I disturbed a buzzard on the ground again. Must be a favourite spot for it. The snow was already starting to melt and was continually falling in large flakes from the branches as if it was actually still snowing, which gave it a magical atmosphere. The various small birds seemed to be very excited, flitting about in the branches and chasing each other. I spent a good hour just looking and taking photos. I was disappointed with my tracking results. Just some squirrel prints and evidence that they had managed to prize open the lid on my peanut bird feeder.

I heard a chainsaw going so had a walk around to see who was about. It was a neighbour I have only briefly met once before. He kindly showed me around his plot which has an old small quarry which he is busy making into some sort of base for activities by adding a roof and sides to enclose it. He is also a falconer and owns numerous birds of prey which he sometimes brings to the woods. I am excited by the prospect of seeing some in the future. So after a leisurely morning just enjoying seeing the woods in it’s winter coat, I got stuck into some hard work. Continuing my hazel coppicing in the S.W. corner, I cut back three or four small stools then felled some small sycamore to increase light levels. The area is looking like a bomb site now with fallen branches all over it. Lack of time means I have to prioritise my work and the important element of cutting back and felling need to be done before spring growth starts. Tidying up can come later and much of the brash will be used in making another small dead hedge. Small birds like wrens and robins love them, so it provides food from small insects that live on the decaying matter, shelter from predators and possible nesting sites. Here’s the one I built last year.

One of the felled sycamore was quite large so I decided to cut the trunk into log sized lengths, wheelbarrow them back to the log-shed where I could split and stack them too. My book of Norwegian methods has taught me that cutting and splitting as soon as you can, is the best way for seasoning logs and it’s certainly easier when the wood is still fresh and green. So half the afternoon was a back-breaking session which resulted in a very satisfying new stack of logs. By the end of the day most of the snow had melted but I have some nice memories and photos of seeing it how it should look in winter. These opportunities are rare.

With the persistent wet weather, Christmas etc, I haven’t been to the woods for over a month and I am desperate to get some hazel coppicing done as they are starting to grow already. The weather forecast was good even though it was sleeting and raining hard before setting off. Half way on my journey and the clouds miraculously cleared and a weak sun peeped through. As I drove up the ride alongside my wood, a large bird took off from the ground and landed on a branch – pretty sure it was a buzzard. I saw one a while later circling above too. I stopped the car, wound down the window to watch for a while. The wood was positively alive with birds undisturbed by my presence – blackbirds and robins bobbing around the ground and a flock of long tailed tits flitting about in the tall trees. “Wow” went my thoughts “what a fantastic greeting. How I’ve missed this place and I’m here now to do some good honest toil and enjoy a day in my woods. How good is that?”

First job, fill up the bird feeders. Next I needed to heel in a large bare-rooted English Oak sapling that my daughters had bought me at Christmas. It was their tribute to my mum, their grandma who passed away in November. The area where I will plant it still needs some nearby felling done which could fall onto it if planted in it’s permanent position now. Next, cut down the remaining birch trunk that had snapped off in the gales a few months ago. I’m interested to see if it will sprout any new shoots from the base. I cut, chopped and stacked the logs in the shed to dry. It’s a very satisfying feeling. Next job, was most important. Last time I rough cut by hand, two overgrown hazel stools but needed the chainsaw to trim down the stumps of the larger pieces. Also two more stools nearby were on my list to cut this year in order to enlarge the small area I started last year.

The two neglected hazels before coppicing

Now they don’t look very big on the photo but it’s surprising how long some of the branches are, maybe 20 feet or more which is a lot of weight and when they come down, the weight tends to split the branch before you can cut right through. The branch inevitable gets hung up in a nearby tree still partly attached to the lower section. So it requires a lot of cutting here and there to release it and often the branch twists trapping the saw blade. At one point my chainsaw was well and truly gripped by a twisted cut and I had to leave it hanging by it’s chain like a Christmas tree decoration while I went for my silky saw to cut it free. These neglected hazel branches are the most labour intensive and difficult to deal with. Anyway I battled on and got the pair of them cut back but time ran out before I could tidy all the branches and brash away. A job for the next visit.

The two hazel stools after coppicing

The same two from a different angle, messy at the moment but a good job done.

Socialising has become another enjoyable part of my woodland trips and it was good to meet up with neighbouring friends from three different plots and swap notes and ideas. I’m still trying to determine the best place for a permanent shelter and I think I might have found it. It lies on the edge of my camping area and there are two large straight sycamore trees that will form the corner posts for the ridge pole. I’ll need to do some more heavy bramble-bashing to clear the area first so that could be on my list of priority jobs. The short daylight hours soon wizz by when you’re busy and before long it was time to pack up and go.

Possible site for my permanent shelter between the two sycamore trees.

Lunch in my shed – not quite gourmet cuisine but probably a nicer environment

Just a review of 2015 and to wish you all a happy new year and thanks for bothering to read my woodland ramblings. I sincerely hope this will be a happy new year. It’s been a tough one for me and my family and for the world in general in many ways and we are overdue for some good times. This is my second year as a woodland owner so I’ve seen the full spectrum of seasons, which are probably not typical. The recent mild and very wet winter here has robbed me of the pleasures of seeing the woodland in it’s winter coat. I’d love to see it covered in snow. It’s also prevented me from visiting as much as I’d like and I’m raring to get back in there and do some work.

First a little review of 2015 and the more positive achievements in my wood. I managed to plant around 40 new trees of native mixed species and as far as I can see, haven’t had any casualties yet, though some have done far better than others. I think the slowest growth is in the two whitebeam saplings which haven’t gained much height at all. The wild cherry and birch are probably the winners so far. The coppiced hazel is doing OK though the new growth on some of it is not very straight and I’m wondering why. I think it made rapid growth and it’s own weight but little strength in the stems pulled it down sideways.

I managed two overnight camping trips which were a new experience for me. I’ve done plenty of camping in my life but only camped on organised sites before. This is a completely different scenario. I’ve made several new friends who are neighbouring woodlanders and that’s a bonus. It’s really good to be able to talk to others who totally get what you’re at and the reassurance of their presence. I’ve had several visitors, two great guys I met earlier in the year at a bushcraft course I attended. I think there will be some more meet-ups with them this year both in and out of the woods.

I started using my chainsaw to fell and cut some trees that need thinning out – a somewhat scary experience at first but one I’m reasonably confident with now. There will always be a healthy dose of fear when using it though, which is good to have. I haven’t counted the number of trees felled but a rough guess is around 20-30. I have a fairly healthy log-pile for my woodstove now but much of it still needs cutting smaller and chopping. I was given a fantastic book for Christmas entitled Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way by Lars Mytting. If you’re a woodsman and wood stove owner I thoroughly recommend it. I realise now that I should have cut and split my fresh wood as soon as possible after felling it. The reason is to encourage drying and seasoning as quickly as possible otherwise moulds set in and slow it down and degrade the quality of your firewood. So I shall have to get busy with that task as soon as possible and take it on board in future.

I was pleased with the take-up of several of my bird nest boxes, over half of them were occupied, mainly by various members of the tit family – coal tits, great tits and blue tits. I’ve made and fixed up a nest box for Little Owls and am really hoping a pair will find and use it. So far I haven’t seen any animals in the woods other than squirrels and birds and the odd toad, though there is plenty of evidence of small mammals like mice, moles and voles, also holes dug by badgers foraging and the odd deer tracks. I guess it’s because they are mainly nocturnal.

The best part of woodland ownership is the sheer pleasure of being part of that natural world and losing yourself in it. I have said it numerous times to people, when I am there I am almost totally focussed and absorbed in the present and the natural surroundings which has a definite healing effect on your nervous system – and boy have I needed that this year. The woodland has been my haven and I can’t get enough of it. If you want to feel grounded and alive, just take a slow walk through a woodland or forest on your own. Take some binoculars, open your eyes and turn up your senses. Just sit somewhere quietly for a while, listen and watch carefully to see what moves or makes a sound. Look closely at some of the plants, fungi etc that are growing around you. It’s an amazing place packed with life and don’t forget – you are part of nature too. This is your natural heritage, try to reconnect with it for a short while before heading back to your cosy house, tv and computer.

So what about 2016 then? My plans are to expand the area of hazel re-coppice. That’s a job I need to do ASAP as the new catkins are already on them and the sap is rising early. Do some more tree felling in the N.E. corner where I started in Autumn and plant up the oak saplings I have been nurturing at home. Build a permanent lean-to shelter for those showery moments and for when I’m camping. Try out my in-car sleeping board for a quick overnight sleep-over set-up. Cut, chop and stack my firewood properly this time for next winter’s fuel. Make a few new areas as places of rest with a bench here and there to just sit with a mug of coffee and take in the beauty of the place. Can’t wait, hope it all comes off as planned. Stay tuned in to see if it does. Thanks again for visiting this blog.