This has to be the best time of the year for nature and woodland lovers. The wood anemones are still in full flower and the bluebells are not far behind. Beech trees are opening their beautiful new lime green leaves, birds are singing and flitting about busy with nests and rearing young and everything just breathes fresh, vibrant life. There’s the promise of all that’s to come in the woods for the next six months or so and it’s just starting. I love it.

So today’s agenda was firstly to recharge my batteries and get my woodland fix. It really is like medicine to me. An early start, I arrived arond 8.30 and the sun was out but a cool northerly wind was blowing through the woods. I spent a good hour and a half just looking all around, seeing what’s changed since last time. Had a walk around to a neighbour’s plot – I heard the rattle of his trailer and knew he had arrived. His wood is predominantly coniferous and he’s been busy felling a coupe and replanting with native broadleaf species. I had a peep down the tree shelter tubes and they are doing fine.

My walkabout discovered the greys have been busy trying to raid nest boxes and this one has taken a right old battering. I’ll have to fix some squirrel guards around the holes if this is going to be a regular occurrence.

The jobs on my list were mainly to cut up some logs that were still lying after felling in winter, bring them back to the logshed area, split some and stack them for drying. I managed about five wheelbarrow loads which doesn’t sound much but when they are still green, they are heavy and when you consider you have to handle them at least four or five times to get them from floor to woodstack, plus splitting them with an axe, then it takes it’s toll on your poor old back.

Late morning I lit a fire. Another aim was to try out my new TBS bushcraft knife. It’s a beautiful thing, sharp as a razor and a really nice comfortable knife to hold. It’s the first time I’ve had chance to use it and I wanted to have a go at making some “feather sticks”. For those that don’t know what they are I’ll explain. When you first light your fire you need tinder and something that will catch the flame easily. If the woodland is wet you struggle to find dry material to start the fire. One method is to collect dead standing sticks which will be still dry in the middle. You pare of the wet outer then make thin long, curly shavings. The trick is to hold the knife almost parallel to the stick and make fine cuts down, stopping before you cut the right off. They need to be still attached to the stick. You need a few and you light the curly bits which take a flame easily. I was a bit impatient and didn’t make enough of them or enough curly “feathers” but it still worked.

Lunch was a tin of soup heated over my fire with my fabulous blacksmith-made fire crane/pot holder. I love this thing and the fact that my mate Simon made it makes it more special.

We had a bit of all seasons today. The sun turned to a snow/hail storm for a while. The woodland floor was white with wood anemones and snow making am unusual sight for this time of year. I’m pleased to say that my new trees all seem to be sprouting so I’ll look forward to seeing how much growth they’ve made at the end of this year. Until the next time in a week or so, I’ll sign off with a photo of the snow.

It’s been hard to find suitably dry days but yesterday was looking promising so an early start to avoid rush hour traffic got me there for 8.15am. Most of my winter visits have been about getting lots of work done before spring but this time I decided to make it a day to really enjoy and savour the spring growth that is now evident. Of course there would be jobs too, but mainly things that were small, not too strenous and things that will contribute to mine and visitors enjoyment of the place. So my list included assembling my mum’s refurbished garden bench, placing a rustic ladder, pimping my camp fire and trying out a new cooking device and transplanting a few plants.

The day started out very good, the sun was out, lots of birds singing and the woodland floor carpeted with green and white from the wood anemones. They have really taken advantage of the extra light in the areas where I cut back the bramble. I spent over an hour just walking around with cameras, having a really close look at the new growth, inspecting the trees I planted last year, listening to the many birds singing and just soaking in the peace and beauty of the place. Words can’t describe just how good it made me feel and how lucky to have this little piece of nature to enjoy. I was pleased to see the wild cherry trees I planted just over a year ago are doing well and have some gorgeous flowers on them.

And just look at how this area has been transformed from a month ago.


Remember me telling you about an ash tree with a U-shaped fork that I climbed and sat in? Well I wanted a small rustic ladder to climb into it and also for inspecting bird nest boxes. I made one at home from logs I brought back so I took it with me to try out. My wife said it looked like Fred Flintstone had made it. Well it works great and here it is.

Next job was to assemble the bench. This was my mum’s garden bench. It was in very poor condition, paint peeling and some rotten ends on the wooden slats but I wanted to save it and put it in the wood. I had stripped it down to it’s components, cut the rotten ends down, refitted the screw inserts and repainted and varnished it. I decided to put it in my camp/fire area. Although it makes the area look less bushcrafty than I would want, I decided that was where it would be most useful. I worked away in the sun, listening to the many birds around and spotted four buzzards circling overhead and it felt so good. I repositioned the existing plank bench and pimped my fire, so now the camp area looks much inviting and visitor friendly.

Just before lunch my lovely neighbour friends R. & L. arrived. They have a wood they share with another couple but have also decided to buy the small plot opposite the bottom of mine. I am so pleased for them and that I will have some new neighbours that I know and like. We had a look around the plot to see what we could find. It holds a lot of potential for them to work on and shape to their plans.

Lunchtime was approaching and my next job was to pimp my campfire. Until now it has been a plain and simple pile of ashes. I wanted to make a small enclosure around part of it and brought some pieces of marble and fire bricks from home. You can’t just put any old stones around a fire, some of them will explode as the moisture in them expands so that’s why I chose those materials. Secondly, my blacksmith friend Simon, had made me a fire crane. It consists of three steel pieces, an upright rod, an arm that has a hooked end to hang a billy can on and one that has a hoop to rest my skillet on. The arms have a curled end that slides onto the rod and can be moved up and down and sideways by relieving the weight from them first. The weight pushing down makes them jam against the rod and holds them in place again. The idea is you hang them over the fire and can adjust the height for temperature control or swing them sideways out of the fire. A neat idea and I wanted to try them out. I took some vege sausages and an egg and some bread to make my lunch. It worked a treat. The photos might explain the principle better.

The last jobs were to plant another small hazel and two wild rose saplings I grew from seed and to transplant a couple of clumps of wild garlic. The garlic only grows in two or three places at the southern end of the wood. I’m trying to increase plant diversity in the northern sycamore end to make it more interesting so the plan is to dig up a few established clumps and replant them where I think they might flourish, then hopefully, they will gradually increase in size and colonise those areas. I like this plant, it is lush and green when young and can be eaten. It’s an ancient woodland species too.

This visit has got to be amongst the best days out there. All the ingredients were right, sunny, warm, lots of birds, some satisfying jobs done. I didn’t want it to end.

The forecast was for an early bit of rain, then clearing by about 9am. Once again they got it wrong. Weather forecasters, who needs them? It was raining lightly when I arrived, I decided to don my incredibly waterproof ex-army Goretex jacket and carry on regardless. There were plenty of things I wanted to do. First job, fill the bird feeders and have a walk around. The wood anemones have come on a pace since last visit. Not quite at their fullest yet but plenty of flowers now. I was particularly pleased with the area to the N.E. where I have cut the brambles in autumn, thinned the sycamore and replanted. That area is coverd with anemomes which are clearly enjoying the extra light and moisture. This time last year, it was covered in brambles. I’ll have to try to knock them back again when they resurface in a few weeks.

My main aim was to make four rough benches and place them in various locations. I had two wide sycamore logs and a woodland neighbour had kindly sawn them lengthwise with his huge chainsaw to make four bench tops. I needed to find eight fat, short logs to make the “legs” and cut a V-shape into them for the rounded side of the half logs to sit in. The result looks decidedley like something from the Flintsones and although they are rather low to the ground, will function as something to sit on and spend a few minutes with a mug of coffee and enjoy the different views. I’m trying to add some extra interest to the wood and these will encourage myself and visitors to stop awhile on our walks around. Here’s the first one at the N.E. corner and note the addition of a “coffee table”.
And here’s the second one halfway down the eastern border which is a lovely secluded area.

Bench three is in the S.W. corner where the hazel has been coppiced recently. Quite an open area at present and lots of small bird activity here. No prizes for design or good looks!

The fourth one is where I usually base activities and have a brew. No photo of the bench but here’s my brew.

Next main job was to dig a hole and “plant” a stout log to act as a chopping block. I did have one already but it was wobbly and leaned to one side. Time to get a bit more professional and make one that functioned more efficiently. It’s strange how we sometimes plod on and put up with things that don’t work properly when a small amount of time and effort could make the whole job easier.

Now I could start splitting and stacking some of the many sycamore logs that were cut down in Winter. They need to be split to speed the drying/seasoning procedure over the spring and summer. My logshed is full of logs from last year for their final drying, so they have to stand outisde first. The idea is to form stacks between two trees. They act as end stops and when in leaf will keep some of the rain off. The resulting pile here doesn’t look much but it took a lot of work. Each log had to be handled and lifted a minimum of four times. 1 – load into wheelbarrow and take back to my chopping block. 2 – lift out and place on block. 3 – chop into four pieces and put back in wheelbarrow and take them to the log pile 4 – take them out and stack them. Now the obvious thing would be to have the chopping block and stack together to reduce handling but I thought the block would be most useful next to the logshed for the future. Might plant another one nearer.

Other activities included a walk around the whole wood with my camcorder so I could compare it with how it looked two years ago; cutting some poles to bring home to make a small rustic ladder; chatting to neighbours; playing with my trail camera (some results this time) and just enjoying the peace and wildlife. Many trees are starting to open bud and I leave you with a photo of a wild cherry tree I planted last year. It was one that mum paid for, larger than the usual saplings and one I am keen for it to do well. It has lots of buds that look like they will flower. Spring is here and it’s going to get very busy at the woods now.