Have you ever had that feeling of being overwelmed by the beauty of something? It might be a cute baby animal, a stunning vista, a piece of music or food or the love of a close person. It’s a feeling inside your chest and head that’s hard to describe. You feel as if you can’t take it all in fully. You can’t absorb it enough, like an appetite that can’t be satisfied.  Yet you feel full as well, to the point of overflowing. Well that’s how I felt yesterday when I saw the woods. It was as if someone has turned on the “Spring switch”.  The woods have transformed beyond belief over the last two weeks. Not long ago this area was a browny mat of dead leaves and not much else. What you see here are the wood anemones in full flower. I have never seen this amount anywhere ever! Incredibly the flowers will die shortly, followed by the leaves and nothing of them will be visible for another year. These are ancient woodland indicators and according to one source, the roots only spread by twelve inches every 100 years! Not sure I’d agree with that as it’s obvious that in some areas, where I have targeted the brambles, mine have spread considerably. Or were they already there but just suppressed badly by the bramble? Bluebells are also opening now. Wherever I walked there was a delicate perfume in the air.

I’d been to a meeting in the morning. It was a Q&A session with the local Trees and Hedgerows Officer. These woods are protected by a TPO (Tree Preservation Order) which means we have to get permission before cutting any down. This man is in charge of dealing with TPOs. It was interesting but I already knew most of what he told us.

Arriving at the woods late morning, it was very warm amd sunny. I had few jobs in mind and decided it was a day to chill out, enjoy the fleeting beauty of early spring and chat to some of the other neighbours who had been at the meeting. I was pleased to see the wool nesting material I hung up for the birds has been popular.

I love this time of year when everything is new and vibrant. Fresh leaves still intact – nothing nibbled, spotty or mouldy. It doesn’t last long before they become food targets for birds, grubs, diseases, fungi etc. Some of the trees are starting to open their leaves. This beech is one of my favourites. The new leaves are almost lime green and so delicate.

The hazel copse at the Southern border is looking great. Taking the several large sycamore out last year and flooding it with light has paid off. Wood Anemones are doing better than ever and I noticed several clumps of tiny violets, previously only seen in one or two places. The flowers measure less than a centimetre and the colours stunning.

What a memorable day and how privileged I feel to have been able to enjoy it and claim stewardship of this little piece of land. I have put hours of work and energy into helping it along and the work is starting to show results. My reward is being able to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells and the satisfaction that I can work with nature in this way. I’ll leave you with a few more shots of the amazing Anemones.

A gloomy, grey and damp day yesterday but the wood anemones carpeted the floor and the first bluebell had opened which brightened everything.  I had a number of jobs I really wanted to finish before spring really kicks in. There were several coppiced hazel stools and young plants that needed deer netting before the new shoots open and offer a tasty temptation to them. I drove stakes into the ground that had been cut from the hazel when I coppiced them, then tied the netting on. They can be removed in two or three years. The coppice area is looking good and should be amazing in a few years when they put on more growth.

The hazel leaf buds are just starting to open. I love the early spring when the new growth provides fresh, perfect and untainted leaves.

The wild garlic (also known as Ramson and actually not part of the garlic family) are lush and when brushed or accidentally stepped on (you can’t completely avoid it) give off that powerful garlicky aroma. All parts are edible.

The second job was to finish my new campfire logstore. I ordered a green tarp to replace the blue one but the sizes were inaccurate and too small, so the blue one stays for now. I stocked it up ready for my first camping trip which hopefully wont be too far away.

The other important job was to transplant various clumps of ground cover. The sycamore plantation area is quite devoid of anything other than anemones, bluebells, moss, a few ferns and of course bramble. Two years ago, in order to create more diversity and interest, I had experimented by digging a couple of small clumps of Ramsons and replanting along the sycamore edge. They have done really well and are starting to spread. So I wanted to try some more in other areas and also some clumps of wood sedge which grow profusely in the area where I park the car. A small holly sapling and some honeysuckle were also moved. The structure of the soil is much different, so they might not take so well but “nothing ventured” etc. The soil was incredibly wet and sticky so there’s no danger of them drying out until they establish new roots systems.

Small clump of Ramsons

Clump of Wood  Sedge

As usual my time ran out quicker than I liked but the jobs were done and I had time to sit and watch and listen to the numerous birds and just enjoy the peace and beauty surrounding me. In Japan they call it “Forest Bathing”.

Sunday presented a window of decent weather. I arrived at 8.15am and drove slowly up the ride. A neighbour had told me where he had seen three female roe deer hanging out. I saw what looked like a pair of long ears amongst a dense area and stopped. Could it just be some leaves? Then it moved and stood up. Yesssss! I’ve waited almost four years to actually see the deer which I know wander around the woods. It stood stock still staring intently at me. Two more stood up and looked too. If I had attempted to get out and take a photo they would have bolted. I just enjoyed the few minutes I had watching them before they sauntered off. A great start to the day.

I was amazed at how much the anenomes had grown since last visit. The floor is a carpet of green now. This is one of the best times of year to see the woods. I fed the birds and as usual they were down within seconds. There was lots of bird calling around, indicating the approach of spring and I heard a chiffchaff for the first time this year. They are a summer visitor – a tiny plain looking bird with the distinctive, repeated chiff-chaff call which gives them their name. The area I have felled recently is recovering nicely, with a profusion of wood anemones and bluebells.

I bought a new mini camping kettle and wanted to try it out. It’s intended more for my days out hiking rather than for the woods. It’s very light and compact and fitted perfectly on the gas stove. It boiled in no time and pours really well. Drinking a nice filter coffee in a springtime woodland, listening to birdcalls and just quietly watching, is my idea of heaven.

One of the jobs on my list was to rebuild my small camping logshed. Where I have my summer campfire, I had made a rough shelter out of an old packing crate to keep some logs dry, close to my fire. It was too small and falling to pieces. Using a wooden pallet for a roof and some sycamore branches for walls, I constructed a new one. The crate is still inside and will be removed and restacked with more logs. A new green tarp will replace the temporary blue one in order to blend in better. The old dustbin (trash can if you are in the USA) is where I keep my bird feed dry. The feeders are just to the left and above it. I was surprised how some of the birds were still nipping in and taking food while I was working there.

I saw this idea somewhere. Using a bird feeder stuffed with natural fibres to provide nesting material for them. It’s a mixture of sheeps’ wool I gathered from a barbed wire fence while out walking, and shredded wool threads from offcuts of our new Herdwick wool lounge carpet. My birds will have the most luxurious nest in the whole woods!

I’ll leave you with this photo of wild primroses which are scattered along my woodland ride edges. Spring is here at last.

The forecast yesterday was looking great amidst days of wet weather this week, so off to an early start for my woodland therapy. I’ve been building a new picnic bench/table at home. The top is made from wooden slats I rescued that from a pine bed base. The legs are made from coppiced hazel logs. I built it as a sort of woodland flat-pack that would easily go into the car and then could be assembled on site. It will make my camping/cooking experiences so much easier. Remember bushcraft is not about “roughing it” in the wild, it’s about “smoothing it”. So why not allow myself the luxury of a woodland fitted kitchen. It complements my log coffee tables.

One of my neighbours here had contacted the local Bat Society and had had an interesting walkabout, here and in some local woods. He learned a lot about their roosting habits which has inspired him to build and erect some bat boxes. It’s something I have had in mind for a while, so was interested to hear what he had learned. By luck, he was coming to the woods yesterday so we arranged to meet. We spent some quality time chatting and later he showed me the boxes he was building using hollowed logs from a tree he had cut. I have plenty of material to build some, so might have a go later. Apparently they are best positioned in groups of several boxes in the same location rather than spread around. Birds will try to nest in them, so a canny ruse is to site a bird box nearby too. When a bird takes residence, it’s territorial behaviour will deter other birds from invading the bat boxes.

It was a gorgeous sunny morning, I put the bird feed out and as usual birds arrived within seconds. I made a coffee and just sat nearby watching them. Earlier I had been communicating with a nuthatch. One of their calls is a distinctive three-note call, a simple whistle which rises in pitch. I can copy it pretty well and it was replying straight away. I spent a few minutes enjoying that simple connection with a wild bird. I wish I knew what we were saying!

I was amazed at how much the groundcover had progressed in a week. The wood anemones were only just coming through last visit and already some are starting to flower. This little patch is the most advanced. In a couple of weeks the floor will be carpeted with them. I was also pleased to see my small patch of wood sorrel is doing well too. I’ve been nurturing it for a couple of years now. It has a lovely tangy, apple flavour.

wood anemones

wood sorrel

I’ve been growing some oak trees from acorns gathered from our local woods near home. They are about a year old and a few inches high. I took fourteen with me and planted them up in the area where I have been felling. They join some others that have been there a couple of years. I know it seems odd that I cut down some large semi mature trees, then plant a similar amount of tiny ones. The reason is to introduce some different species into an area that is almost exclusivley sycamore. This area was planted about 40-50 years ago as a timber crop. They have never been thinned, are overcrowded and of poor quality for timber production. So by felling some, I am opening up an area to extra light which will allow me to plant other species and also allow the groundcover to flourish. By keeping the brambles down as well, I am already seeing an increase in bluebells, wood anemones and one or two other species. The green tree tubes will protect them from browsing deer. Here’s how its looking now.

The woodland is awakening to Spring now, so the next couple of months will be an explosion of growth and bird activity. I can’t wait to get back in there.

We’ve been having Siberian weather all week which has been named the Beast from the East. Bitingly cold wind and driving snow. To attempt the fifty mile drive to the woods earlier would have been crazy but yesterday looked like a chance to see my woods under a decent bed of snow. It’s something I have been waiting for since I took ownership, having only seen a small covering a couple of times. I was eager to see what animal tracks might be around, to give me some idea of where to place a trail camera in future. I had a couple of small jobs to do but mainly it was to be a day for exploring and some campfire cookery. My neighbours arrived around the same time and as we stood chatting about the animal tracks, a couple of robins appeared and were almost at touching distance. I never tire of sharing the closeness of a wild creature that has clearly sought me out.

I found a few tracks leading from my parking/work area down my paths into the lower woods. Mainly rabbits or hares which I think these are but I did see a much larger track with a regular gait which must be a fox. There were several large areas where the snow had been disturbed revealing the dead leaves but there were no tracks leading to it. The detective in me figured it must have been a bird and a large one at that. Maybe a buzzard or owl. Time to make a fire and a brew and create some decent embers for cooking my lunch. Fried eggs and Quorn “bacon” slices in a bread cake. I haven’t tried the veggie slices before and the attempt by the manufacturer to emulate real bacon slices leaves room for improvement. They look like insoles for childrens wellies. They tasted ok though. It amuses me why vegetarian food is designed to try to copy the meaty versions.

Where I have been felling this winter, there was still a lot of brash lying around, so I spent some time using it to extend the dead hedge at the top corner of my plot where it is accessible from a ride (track). I had heard that the neighbouring farmer has had lots of his logs stolen and that the thieving b******s were using quadbikes and had been seen entering the forest. The hedge will make it more difficult for them to gain access to my healthy stack of logs though they can still get to them if they are determined. I’m hoping that because I am a few hundred metres in from the field edge that they might not want to risk being spotted so far in, with no quick escape route.

One of the interesting affects of the snow is showing up the thousands of small saplings springing up all over the lower woods. These tiny trees are about two years old, mainly sycamore and ash. The snow has covered the dead leaves but not the saplings which has made them easily visble. Here’s just a small patch of them. I guess most will eventually die, unable to compete, otherwise I have a heck of a task thinning them out!

By the time I left, the snow had already started to thaw so the chance to see the woods like this again might not happen for another year or more. It was a rare chance to see it in a different light and have the pleasure of exploring again. I’ll leave you with a few more photos.

The weather yesterday was forecast to be cold and sunny and it was. Another day at my “office” was  planned. My blacksmith mate Simon had offered to help me clear the remaining felled trees and we arrived nice and early. We spent an hour walking the woods then spotted a large bird of prey in a neighbouring plot. Too lightly coloured for a buzzard, looked like the young Harris Hawk one of the other neighbours is training up, so we headed over. He was talking to the guy who owns that plot and after introductions we were invited in to see his tower. It must be 30-40 feet high and built from small diameter dead trees from his wood. People ask why he has built it and he says, “Because I can”. The view from the top was fantastic, I love seeing things from a high point.

We headed back and armed with chainsaw and muscle, started cutting and stacking the logs. Having a helper really speeds the job up. We paused at one point to admire a buzzard effortlessly gliding on the thermals above us. Two of them had been checking out the Harris Hawk earlier.

Simon spotted an interesting shaped sycamore log but we felt it needed a pair of undies for decency’s sake. Could this be the start of some woodland sculpture? I should call it “The Lady of the Woods”

We had another neighbourly visit, I’ll just say from A. & J. for anonymity. They were just out for a walk with family. Now these folks have just finished building their fantastic “bodger’s hut” and I took Simon around to see it. It’s built from planks of larch made from the tree that once stood there and anchored to it’s rooted stump! How holistic is that? Am I envious? Yep.

We finished clearing the logs apart from one large chunk which I might cut and cleave to make some greenwood stools. It was a satisfying day shared with some great company. The area I felled is looking pretty tidy now,  just a bit of brash to clear and the spring flowers – bluebells and wood anemones and the small oaks saplings will be able to enjoy plenty of light. It gives me more space to introduce some other tree species such as cherry, silver birch, hazel etc.

I’m  a bit late posting this, having been away for a few days but there’s not a lot to tell you, so it will be short and to the point. More for the record rather than anthing else. My visit last saturday was with some welcome help from fellow woodland owner Phil. Main objective to try to clear more of the felled trees before spring. Between us we erected a horizontal pole to stack thinner branches against that might be used for building projects, then cut and stacked at least half the remainng trunks. We moved some of the long poles down to the shelter where I will use them to make a new roof before long. The area here is looking more interesting now, as if there’s some real work going on!

One of the other neighbours – a fellow bushcrafter called by, always good to have a catch up and we had a walk around to yet another neighbour who has built a fantastic bodgers hut. It looks like a log cabin with an open front and is made from the larch that he felled and cut into planks. If I get his permission I’ll post a photo. hoping to go again on sunday. See you soon.

It’s raining, snowing and sleeting here at home and I’m thinking about my woods. I guess I should have posted this early in the new year but I didn’t and time slips by so fast. So here are some thoughts on what I’d like to do this year. Obviously I shall carry on with the usual maintenance of clearing some bramble, cutting, splitting and stacking of felled trees.

I need to rebuild my shelter. The roof was made using plastic tarp which after two years has several holes, dips and bulges full of stinky water and the woodland creatures have gnawed through much of the rope that is binding it together. I have my shave-horse stored there and would like to make this area a bit of a bodger site for green woodworking. Ideally I’d like to build a pole lathe too. The shelter will be taller and more waterproof.

I can’t wait for some milder weather to go camping again. I’d like to do much more this year and would love to have my two bushcraft mates Si and Phil for a one-nighter. We’ve been talking about it for a couple of years and this year we need to make it happen. I’d like to do a bit of small scale blacksmithing and have most of the tools needed but there’s always more pressing things to spend my time on. Maybe the stop-over with my mates could also be a blacksmithing one?

I bought a trail camera a couple of years ago, so I could capture some wildlife when I’m not around. I’ve struggled to get good results when trying it out which is the main reason I haven’t used it much. I need to get to grips with it and put it up somewhere. I have seen very little in the way of animals while I’ve been there. I’ve seen birds obviously, plus toads, frogs, squirrels, wood mice, shrews and a hare. I know there are foxes, badgers, roe and muntjac deer, hedgehogs but never seen them.

I want to transplant some clumps of ground plants into the sycamore area to increase the diversity and interest levels there. Apart from bramble and male ferns, bluebells and wood anemones (in spring) there isn’t much else in the area. The edges of the newly cleared coup (opening) would be a good  starting point. I’m thinking dogs mercury, sedges, wild garlic and wood sorrel which I have in other parts of the wood. I need to be doing this soon.

A small pond has been in my plans too. The woods are very well drained so not ideal for ponds but there’s one area that seems to get a bit wet and boggy, maybe I shall get around to digging it out and inserting a pond liner.

A more thorough inventory of ground cover species would be great to do. Also another walk-though with a video camera would be interesting, to compare it with the one I did when I bought the woods. Trouble it indentifying them can be difficut and time consuming. Do you see a pattern emerging here. Time or lack of it. I need to go and live in my woods.

I picked the right day to go yesterday. After a lot of dark wet days, it was frosty, crisp and sunny and the woods looked stunning in the low angled light. There are two plots still unsold in the wider woods and I decided to have a mooch around and see what was in them. Both plots are interesting with lots of large hazel stools ready for coppicing. One plot has the remains of a small quarry and in periods of heavy rain, becomes a small pond. If I was thirty years younger with pots of money, I’d buy that one as well.

The frozen conditions must make it hard for the birds to find food, so I stocked up the peanut feeder and broke up a fatball and spread it on a stump so they could enjoy an easy and calorific breakfast (our equivalent would be an English breakfast at Wetherpoons). The birds seem to know what I’m doing because within seconds, they are tucking in.

I advertised on our local Freecycle group for spare wood to make birdboxes and somebody kindly donated a brand new one, so I next job was to put it up ready for spring. One of the main tasks of the day, was to take the photos needed for my Woodland Trust volunteer project – fixed point photography. Lighting was very low making for interesting images but hard to avoid lens glare. There are six different locations. It was really enjoyable to walk about and see how things have changed since last year and it filled the rest of the morning nicely.

I am very keen to start clearing up the felled trees, so the afternoon was spent chainsawing some of them into manageable sizes and stacking them. I can process them at leisure later on but spring is not far away and I don’t want them hindering the growth of bluebells and wood anemones. The blubells are already a few inches high. Here’s about a fifth of work done, I probably moved at least a ton of timber by hand. Apart from some slightly achy muscles I feel pretty good and that was one heck of a workout. Lots more still to do though.

Finally I just sat and watched the birds again as they silently flitted about. It never fails to bring a warm glow to my soul, especially when a robin comes to seek you out and see what you are up to.