The weather has turned a whole season this week. A few days ago we were having warm days that would be welcome in summer. Now Autumn is definitely here. The first frosts this week will hasten the dropping of leaves from the trees and so it was evident at the woods yesterday. It changes the whole feel and perspective and can even disorient you as you have become accustomed to the heavy, leafy clothing that summer has been wearing. It happens again in late spring only in reverse. I’ll talk more about that shortly. A short walk around with my camera found these amazing clumps of fungi growing on dead tree stumps.

The day was earmarked for some serious bramble-bashing. I’ve been lenient on it for a year, mainly due to having so many more interesting or rewarding jobs to do. Last week gave me a taster of how much differece it makes when you can clear an area. I had spent an hour just pulling it up at the roots so the idea was to repeat that and finish that small area, then hit the big boys with the petrol brushcutter. There’s so much bramble in some areas that pulling isn’t an option.  So going over it with the brushcutter first, clears the heavy ground cover which allows easier access and weakens the plants. The roots are still in and will sprout again in spring. Maybe another quick going over in late summer will weaken them further, then the following year I can probably start pulling them up by the roots. Whilst pulling some yesterday I found a tiny yew sapling. I’ve been hoping to find some but so far to no avail, even though there is a massive one just over the border and I was sure there would be some saplings nearby in my plot, but no. I found this where I least expected it. I’ve protected it with a cut-off plastic water bottle.

So onto the bramble war. This area has grown really thick with it since I planted some saplings two years ago which are now in danger of being smothered. this is the before photo.

and this is after.

It looks severe doesn’t it? I sat nearby and ate my lunch. A robin came to investigate the new landscape. It was bobbing back and forth all around, probably looking for new food disturbed by the work. But it occurred to me that the once familiar landscape, had suddenly changed. The robin would be used to what was there and might need to re-familiarise itself with the new terrain. Good or bad for wildllife? Well it depends on your perspective. Some insect species will rely on the bramble to lay eggs on, animals feed on the berries (though in my woods it’s largely just foliage and few berries) and some animals and birds will have protection from predators and rain. On the other hand, nothing much else can grow under the heavy shade. Without the bramble cover, other plants should germinate and provide a richer diversity which will benifit other insects and animals. The bare looking ground now will soon be overgrown again next summer, so it’s a short term loss for a longer term gain.

That lead me to thinking about how the change in seasons can be disorienting at first. You don’t consciously realise it but the familiar clumps of bramble here and there, the odd foxglove or burdock plant, the shape of certain trees are all visual clues that your brain must be processing to help keep your position identifiable. When it changes at the end of the season, it’s almost a different place.

Here’s the sycamore plantation that was another target for bramble clearing. This area is fairly boring. The trees were planted in the 1960s and have been neglected. They should have been thinned and in summer the area is incredibly dark. So there’s not much ground cover other than bramble. The pathway I cut two years ago proved that the underlying wood anemonies and bluebells really enjoyed the lack of brambles. After clearing a sizeable chunk of this area, I am looking forward to am amazing spring show of the anemonies. This was hard back-breaking work but very satisfying. Again it looks severe but eventually I hope other ground cover will take advantage. There are some very nice ferns in areas of low bramble cover which I am hoping will spread.

John Keats To Autumn, first verse

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shellsWith a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

And so it is upon us. Arriving at the woods yesterday it was gloomy and the air was still. Not a whisper of a breeze and virtually silent, apart from the occasional clatter of a falling leaf on the dry floor. The trees are semi-bare of leaves now. Mother nature stripped down to her underwear. Ooh err missus! A hard frost and some windy weather will quickly dispatch the rest. It’s probably at it’s most colourful right now. I particularly like the beech trees because at this point, the remaining leaves are multi-coloured.

It was to be a day for working mainly. My first plastic wheelbarrow had split with the weight of logs, so I bought a new sturdier one which needed assembling. My last visit had left me a big pile of sycamore logs which needed splitting and stacking while still relatively green. So much easier than when they have dried out. I decided a good place to stack them was next to my logshed (which is full) and had brought some wooden pallets, kindly donated by my builder-neighbour. I had a small, rotting pallet with a  few logs on, so decided to replace it with a bigger new one. Whilst dismantling it, I found a ball of chewed up hessian that was obviously the start of a mouse nest. I know exactly where that hessian came from – the sack in the logshed that has been slowly disappearing! An hour of chopping and stacking warmed me up and created yet another pile of firewood to season for next winter. It’s tiring but incredibly satisfying work.

Time for a fire, a brew and to draw some blood! So I needed some kindling which I was going to make, by splitting some small dry logs with a razor sharp axe. I have a handy stump by the campfire for chopping. Now boys and girls, the correct and safe way to chop kindling, is not by holding the log on the stump with one hand whilst chopping it vertically with said razor sharp axe. I know that and even told myself that it was dangerous practice and likely to end in tears. But Nigel, my internal chimp, said it would be OK if I was careful ( see The Chimp Paradox by Steve Peters for an explanation). The razor sharp axe made extra swift progress through the log and into my thumb. Fortunately it was just a deep cut and not a parting of ways. Cheers Nige!

My good neighbours “L & R” arrived and we later had lunch together around the campfire. That is such a good feeling, sitting in the middle of an autumnal wood to eat your food, messing about with a fire and chatting with mates. I feel so lucky to be able to do that.

I spent another hour or so pulling bramble. Another tiring but rewarding job. Some of it comes up really easy if you grab it near the root and you are usually rewarded with some very long trailing pieces which seems to clear a decent area. The tougher pieces often respond with some encouraging swear words like “come on you b*****d”

We changed the clocks back an hour the night before, so by 4 pm it was getting dark and time to head home. I’ll leave you with a couple of small fungi I found earlier in the day. You couldn’t get two, more opposite in appearance, both beautiful in their own way.

I have no photos of yesterday’s visit and nothing much to report in terms of woodland activity. If you’ve found this post looking for information on forestry management or pretty pictures, then sorry you’ll be disappointed today. I still want to post something because yesterday was significant to me in several ways. I’ve entitled it Connections because that was what it was all about. If you decide to read on I’ll explain and if any of it rings true to you, then you have made that connection too.

I’ve said it many times, that owning my little piece of woodland is more than just that. There might be numerous reasons why someone wants to own one – a hobby, a financial investment, a place to watch nature, a source of timber for fires or woodwork and it’s all of those. For me though, firstly it is a place to connect to nature and the earth. As human beings, our heritage is about being a part of nature but sadly, in this high tech age, we have largely lost touch with that connection. I wanted to re-connect to the planet and Mother Nature and refresh my part in it. Look around you, we are the only living things that have wilfully shaped and transformed this planet into something unnatural. Although we have benefitted with a comfortable and relatively safe lifestyle, we have lost so much of our true nature, which is to live in harmony with the earth and the other life-forms that share it. Apart from the oceans, woodland is the most richly diverse habitat for living things. Compare a rain forest to a desert in terms of living things. Then look at a typical first world city or town. Take away the humans and what is left – a concrete desert? So it’s no surprise that many of us head off to the coast, the hills, lakes and forests to recharge our batteries at the weekends and what we are doing, consciously or not, is re-connecting with nature and our true selves.

There are other types of connections that are important to us humans too and I’m going to tell you about some of those that I made yesterday. I’ve had my piece of woodland over two years now and surprisingly, never driven around it. It sits like an island in the middle of farmland – flat, open fields which are now devoid of crops, just bare earth and scrubby, organic debris. I guess I always want to spend the maximum time I can in my woods. I have seen how the woodland lies on a map but wanted to see it from the outside. I was not disappointed. I drove part way around it and stopped for a while, imagining I had x-ray eyes and could see inside it to my small plot. I know what the inside looks like and marvelled at how rich it is in life forms. Thousands of different lives are hidden from the outside world and the casual observer. How it nurtures, feeds and protects them. The food chain in perfect synchronicity – lichens, mosses, fungi, insects and invertebrates, small plants and animals, birds, mammals and trees. It was then that a fantastic wave of calm euphoria came over me. All I can say is that it was of being fully connected to my location and the moment. Not just to my little piece but to the whole landscape that surrounded me. It is hard to describe but if you have ever felt like this when looking at a wonderful sight, you will know what I mean. I get this feeling almost every time I am in my woods but this was the first time I have felt that way for the whole area. It felt like I belonged there. Like home.

The other connections I’m talking about are with people. I am always pleased to meet the woodland neighbours, to catch up on their lives and swap notes. I met five yesterday and must have spent half the day chatting to them. The plots over the border from mine have just been sold and the new neighbours were there, a lovely young family full of excitement and enthusiasm. I gave them the grand tour of mine and explained a few things and it was a relief to know I have neighbours I like and will get along with. My good friends on the other side of me were there too. You know that not all people you meet will connect with you but when you do find that bond, it is like gold. As I get older, I value friends more than ever before. That leads me to one last thing to tell you about. Through my recent interest in bushcraft and country life skills, I have made some very good new friends and one of those is an artisan blacksmith called Simon Reed. He won’t mind me naming him. He is funny, feisty, kind and caring and has lots of stories to tell. He makes beautiful small items of jewelry and other ornamental things and is definitely one of my connections. He wrote this poem for me and I think it is wonderful.

Oh wise man o the woods

Loving and being loved by mother earth

In touch with things untouchable

Seeing the unnoticeable

In awe of nature and accepting her complicity

Enjoying not taming.

Thank you Simon, you nailed it with your usual high quality craftsmanship. (Not so sure about the wise bit though!)

Check out Simon’s website and Facebook page. He operates out of the forge in the farmyard at Temple Newsham House near Leeds. He runs one-to-one blacksmithing sessions and if you fancy bashing some hot metal (as he puts it) book yourself in, it’s a unique experience.

http://lilliputforge.co.uk.websitebuilder.prositehosting.co.uk/home

Lilliput Forge Facebook

Yesterday’s main reason for visiting my woods was to meet with Robin from the Woodland Trust but more of that later. It was a dull start again and I got stuck straight in with some chainsaw work. Cutting up some of the small sycamore I felled two weeks ago, chopping and stacking. It really is so much easier when the logs are still green. You hardly need to do more than let the heavy axe drop onto it to split it. But onto the more interesting part of my morning – continuing to “pimp” my shelter by adding a fire reflector.

One of my regular readers, I shall call him John (cos that’s his name) asked what I meant as the only definition he had heard was concerned with ladies of the night and immoral activities. Now that’s not what I am aiming for but if times get tough after Brexit, who knows? So maybe I should explain the word “pimp” used in this connotation. There was a tv program called Pimp My Ride where they would take an old banger (wreck to you John) of a car and tart it up – sorry I’m slipping back into John’s world yet again. I mean smarten it up with lots of accessories and modifications to make it a bit of a head-turner and more fun to drive. So that’s my use of the word.

To shield the fire from wind and help divert smoke away from the shelter I wanted to add a fire reflector. It also helps to focus some of the heat forward too. It’s just some green cut logs held between some stakes but I think it looks cool and adds some authenticity to the camp. I’m brewing up here.

A spin-off from my woodland activities is buying up old axes, or usually just the heads, at car boot sales and renovating them. I normally pay just a pound or two and they are covered in rust and blunt. I clean them up, re-profile the bit (edge) and sharpen to razor sharp, fit a new handle and might add a leather mask (cover) and collar (protects the handle or haft from scuffs). This is my latest one which I brought to try out. The haft is original. I really like the look and feel of it.

Now onto the visit from the Woodland Trust. Robin has been before and has been helping small woodland owners to slowly restore neglected ancient woodland to a more natural state by selective thinning etc. He has proposed an idea whereby he will investigate bringing in a professional contractor to fell some of the bigger trees that we amateurs don’t want to tackle. It’s not worth them coming to us individually to fell a handful of trees but if several people are interested, the cumulative numbers might be worth their while. The idea being that they keep the timber to sell on and use that to offset the cost of labour. So we might get the work done at zero cost to us or even make a small profit. I’m certainly interested as it would push my plans forward considerably. We spent a good hour and a half chatting about it and walking my woods. I always enjoy a visit from Robin. We also discussed a possible volunteering position for me with the W.T. but I am saying no more about that right now.

The shelter camp is looking better with the new fire reflector so until next time, bye for now.

What a gorgeous day to spend in the woods. It’s very dry at the moment, it was mild and still felt like summer was hanging on as long as it can. I took the chainsaw with good intentions of processing the trees I cut down but what I really wanted to do was pimp my shelter. I ended up doing no serious work and spent the whole day playing. Still hard physical work but fun. Up to now the shelter felt like somewhere to hide from the rain and I want it to feel more confortble and sort of homely. So the first job was to make a fire pit and light it. Because there are trees growing very close, I didn’t want to scorch the roots, so I placed a concrete flagstone as the hearth and some stones from home around it to contain the hot embers. It was a real joy to see the flames reaching up as I lit it for the first time and brought it to life. I had given my new campsite it’s soul, and I utilised it for a brew.

The trouble was, and gentle as it was, the wind was blowing the smoke right into my shelter so a lot of the time I had to sit behind the fire! I think the solution will be to build a small log wall known as a fire reflector behind it.

Next job was to find a place to stack some logs where they would stay dry. The sides are where I want them so they don’t take valuable space but the walls aren’t particularly waterproof. I fixed a cheap plastic tarp to the inside of one wall to keep driving rain out and built a small stack of logs. Started to feel more like home. Not that my main home is made from tarps and logs! But you know, sitting there in my shelter, with a fire going and the dappled sun coming through the beech trees, I felt truly at home. It’s hard to explain the feeling to someone unless they have spent time in the woods and felt the deep connection you get to it. I felt content and as if I belonged there. I could have just sat soaking it all in for ages without being bored.

The picture above means I’m going to have to replace the cheapo plastic tarp that is the roof. A small dead branch must have dropped last week and gone through it. I haven’t been satisfied with the roof anyway so I eventually replace it with some corrugated sheets which will be more resilient. Lunchtime came and I used the fire to heat up my can of vege curry. I shall be doing more cooking there in future. (Did that count as cooking – not really.)

Last time I was there, I spotted a “barley twist” ash branch growing in an area I haven’t particularly explored before. The twist is caused by a vine, in this case honeysuckle, that has grown up around the small branch and restricted it’s growth giving it this characterisitic shape. They are much prized by walking stick makers and are rare and hard to find. Someone once asked, “When’s a good time to cut them” and the answer was, “When you find one”. So I went back this week and cut it. I’m dead chuffed. looks like something Gandalf in Lord of the Rings might use.

I did a bit of foraging and this time I collected a hazel nut, an acorn, two conkers and seven sweet chestnuts. The chestnuts were still unopened (ha, beat you to it Mr squirrel). I don’t know if they will be viable as seeds but I’ll dry them and wait till they open to see what’s in there.

One of the last jobs was to move “Bambi”- the log bench I made a few weeks ago, into the shelter. It’ll keep it dry and will be a useful addition when I’m spending time in there. I didn’t want to leave, had such a contented and satisfying day and I can say my shelter is starting to feel more alive and workable. Bye for now.

Autumn Fires – Robert Louis Stevenson

In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!

Yesterday at the woods it was dull, grey and windy. Although most things are still very green, the days are shortening as we pass the equinox and Autumn is officially here. It’s a time that usually depresses me when I realise those warm, light evenings and early mornings are gone and nature starts shutting up shop for the winter. Having the woods has made a difference though, I find I enjoy my time there just as much in winter as I do in summer. No insects or stinging nettles to irritate me and more reason to light a fire. I haven’t lit a proper one since June and there’s nothing much more satisfying than sitting in front of  a woodland fire with a brew.

I took the chainsaw and I know I ought to continue with processing the logpile but I’m getting a bit bored with that. I want to see some progress with my plans so I decided to take down a few small sycamore trees in the middle section. I have some nice alder saplings I grew from seed and want to plant them there. Although they love lots of water (and my woods aren’t really suitable) there is a patch that tends to get a  bit muddy so I’ll try them there but they need more light letting in. I felled three small ones, two fell cleanly and one got hung up. This one, bizzarely was growing from the base of a large birch tree.

There was a large dead tree, hung up right next to where I park my car. It’s been there since I bought the woods and although it seemed secure, it needed to be made safe. It’s actually the top of the tree next to it that I ring barked and must have snapped off in a gale and embedded itself into the ground. Removing it posed a problem. The best bet would have been to winch the bottom of it to pull it out of the other tree but I didn’t have a winch and decided to try the risky method of undercutting. Basically the upper side is under compression because it’s leaning, so cutting from that side will trap the saw as it snaps. By making a small top cut first (a few feet from the ground) then cutting through to meet it from underneath, the tree will drop and hopefully pull itself out of the tree it’s snagged on. It’s a risky method as it’s unpredictable how it’s going to fall. You have to watch carefully and get out of the way quick when it does. I got a surprise this time, the tree didn’t fall and ended up literally hung up and swinging in the air. You can see below, the stump left and the dead tree suspended. Hmm now what?

I threw a rope over the branch and tugged. Eventually it dropped a few feet ….. and embedded itself back into the ground and still snagged. Another even riskier undercut was all I could do. Same again! This baby didn’t want to go. I couldn’t chance another undercut so threw the rope higher and got into a rhythmic pull back and forth until finally it fell. Well I needn’t have worried about it coming down unexpectedly onto my car!

Most of the rest of the day was spent pulling bramble and repairing my shelter. The shelter has been under attack from something that likes string. The thick fibrous type that is holding it together. Although most of the elevated poles are also supported by forked ones to take the weight, I decided to replace the chewed-through string with a stronger nylon type. Hopefully the little critters won’t take a fancy to that.

When working among the bramble, I often find odd discarded items. This time I found a  glass pan lid, a feather and a plastic ring –  no idea what the ring was from. I’m amassing quite an eclectic woodland museum these days.

My last visit on Saturday 18th was mostly spent working so I don’t have so much to tell you this time and very few photos. It was a dull but fine day and the woods were very quiet. Not much birdsong now. I took the chainsaw so I could continue sawing up the logs from last winter. I might just about get them all done before I start felling again and I’m thinking it might be better to process each tree completely as I fell it instead of just cutting them into long pieces and stacking them. That way they get split and stacked and start the drying process straight away and I don’t leave myself the legacy of a huge pile to sort out next summer. Remeber the log workbench I started to make for a big larch log? I called in Bambi because the legs I put on it were long and a bit widely spaced. It reminded me of the Disney film where the baby Bambi forst tried to stand up on some ice and her legs were all over the place. The next stage for the bench was to cut some pieces out so seeing as I had the chainsaw, I thought I would use it to cut the bench then chip away the wood with my axe. It was hard work, the larch uch tougher than I anticipated. I maybe cut the slots a little too deep, going approximatley half way butit’s still very strong.

“Bambi” workbench after cutting out the slots.

The idea of the slots are for holding pieces of timber you might want to work on. The end one can be used simply as a place to rest a branch for cutting or you can drill a hole through it and pass some strong cord through. If you are making a spoon, you can hold it tight down by passing it through the cord, then sticking your foot in a loop below to pull done on it. Hard to explain but if I get around to finsihing it I’ll take a photo. The cut-out in the middle can be used as a vice. Say you wanted to make a bowl, you can put you small log into the cut-out, then use two wedges opposed to each other to tighten it into the gap and hold it in place.

I was just on my way to my log pile when three people turned up. They said they were lost and looking for a plot that was still for sale. It was the one adjacent to the northern end of mine. I took them round and gave them some information about the whole woodland, it’s history and the wildlife there. The lady who was interested in buying had pretty much all the same reasons as me. I felt comfortable with her and would be very happy having her as a neighbour. The other plot below that and adjacent to my lower half has also just sold. No idea who bought that but no doubt will find out before long. It’s been quite nice having no neighbours on my border as it meant total privacy on that whole side of my woods and my camping and sitting area is close to the border. Nothing much else to report so I’ll just leave you with another photo of my ever increasing log pile. I didn’t dare disturb the mouse nest I found last time under the logs but hopefully the babies are more or less grown and ready to leave now.

Arum Maculatum also known as Lords and Ladies or Cuckoo Pint

Welcome back. This is what Wikipaedia has to say about this plant.
It is known by an abundance of common names including snakeshead, adder’s root, arum, wild arum, arum lily, lords-and-ladies, devils and angels, cows and bulls, cuckoo-pint, Adam and Eve, bobbins, naked girls, naked boys, starch-root, wake robin, friar’s cowl and jack in the pulpit. The name “lords-and-ladies” and other gender related names refer to the plant’s likeness to male and female genitalia symbolising copulation.
If you look at a photo of it in leaf and flower you’ll see why. These are the berries which are abundant at the moment.

I met one of my neighbours on his way home and we chatted. I walked past his plot a couple of weeks ago and spotted lots of wood sorrel coming up in the grass that has grown since he felled a load of conifers. Wood sorrel is what the irish call Shamrock and it contains oxalic acid. Not good for you in large quantities but ok in small doses. If you can it ID correctly, try chewing a few leaves. It has a tangy bite to it that reminds you of cooking apples or pineapple to some. Poncey chefs in London are putting it in salads and charging a fortune. I don’t have any in my woods and would like a small patch or three, so I asked if I could dig a few pieces and he kindly agreed. It seems to like growing in mossy areas so I picked four spots in my woods where I think it might like and have planted them up. e’ll see what happens come spring.

wood sorrel

Brambles – well I have to mention them yet again and it won’t be the last. The area of hazel that I coppiced and planted has started to get a bit overgrown in places. Although it’s not a job to relish, I needed to focus my attention on removing some of it. I’ve had some success at pulling it up. Depends on the ground and how soft and loose it is. Some come up easily and some are rooted in concrete. The other issue there is that deer have been nibbling off the new hazel shoots. So an hour spent pulling bramble and piling them around the hazels stools might just deter them.

pulled bramble around hazel stools

Now onto the tiny pink sausage bit. The last couple of visits have been social events and I was keen to do a few jobs. There was a pile of logs that I had cut two weeks ago, ready for splitting and stacking, so that was my first priority. I was about to get a few surprises. As I worked through the pile, a couple of small frogs appeared and quickly hopped away. Then two small dark-coloured toads, not so athletic and facing eviction from their log cabin, crawled out looking for new shelter. I gently cupped them in my gloves and trasferred them to the one I had built specially for them which won’t be disturbed in future. As I lifted the last few logs, I spotted a small pile of vegetative debris. A less observant person could easily have missed it. Curious, I gently poked it and got the best surprise. A bundle of tiny, squirming, pink sausages with legs. I think they were recently born woodmice and I had just dismantled the walls that were protecting them. I covered them up quickly and built some new ones, using some large pieces of bark as a roof to keep the rain out. I sincerely hope the mother finds them and continues to rear them. This is one of the problems I am finding. Naturally, the wildlife will find any new features I create, either intentionally like the bird boxes and brash hedges or by the stuff I leave around. So a lesson to learn and remember when dismantling any structures and particularly log piles, is to be carfeul and watch put for those little lives that have made homes there. This isn’t my photo but just to show you what they look like and remember they are only about 1cm long.

Wood mouse newborn babies {Apodemus sylvaticus} Spain

Lots to talk about this time and the title could have included mossies, frogs, toads, brambles and found objects. I’ve split it into two parts because it could be a long one and you might want a break. The weather was great, temperature in the mid 20s. It seems that summer has finally arrived just when it’s about to end! What a weird climate we have in the UK. It doesn’t seem five minutes since spring was here, bluebells and birds nesting. It’s only just over a couple of months since the longest day but the nights are drawing in and the woods are slowly winding down. The sycamore has started to drop it’s first leaves, plants are seeding and going brown and there’s a definite feel of Autumn knocking at the door. It’s a nice time of year but always gives me a pang of mild panic and sadness, that the light nights and warm weather are about to end again and we’ll have to wait at least another six months before they return. Yesterday was a day of foraging and some essential jobs. I wanted to focus on some log chopping and bramble clearing but before you sigh “not again”, I’ll say read on as it will be more interesting than just that.

The log chopping was the first job but I’m saving that for part two. 10.30 was time for a brew and a rest. I mentioned that I had processed some nettles to make cordage. To be honest, I’ve become mildly obsessed with it. I find the whole thing very satisfying. To non-bushcrafty people it might seem a bit odd and geeky when you can buy a whole ball of string at the pound shop. It’s a number of things but it’s not about needing string or being too tight to buy it. It’s about learning new (but old) skills, experimenting and seeing what I can produce from naturally found materials. Our ancestors knew about these skills not so long ago before we became so dependant on cheap manufactured goods and our throw-away society. Most folks have lost the knowledge and skills and that’s a shame. My first attempts at nettle cordage have not been great but I’m quite pleased with the final product. It’s surprisingly strong, looks satisfyingly rustic and wholesome and now that I’ve made some, has become more valuable to me than a mere piece of string from Wilko’s. It represents a stroy and a learning curve. Here’s a photo of my first decent piece. I need to find a special use for it rather than just tie up the sweet peas. In true Blue Peter style “Here’s some I made earlier”. The one on the left is the nettles and the other is made from spruce roots but that’s another story.

nettle and spruce root cordage

I sat with coffee, watching a tiny shrew bobbing about a pile of brash and stripped some nettles. I think I’ve cracked that part of it now. My first efforts produced thin and small pieces. The key is to flatten then split the stalk open, then starting in the middle, bend it and pull the pith away from the outer skin rather than trying to pull the skin off the pith. You can see from the photo I managed some wide and long pieces.

stripped nettle skins ready for drying

I noticed quite a few small acorns had fallen and collected them to try raise some more oak saplings. There’s nearly always something new to find that has been discarded at some point. Today’s find was an old glass bottle that had been used for mineral water, probably early to mid 20th century. Unfortunately the bottom was broken off. Here’s my day’s foraging results.

old mineral water bottle

You’ll have to come back for part two to find out about the tiny pink sausages!

It has been on the cards to meet up with my eldest daughter for a while now. She helped me twice to plant saplings but it had been winter and she really wanted to see the woods in summertime. The weather was set to be fantastic and she and her partner had a day off work so at last we managed to meet up. I arrived first and had about an hour to do a bit of work. There was a longish ash log I had felled in winter which I wanted to split and bring home, with the intention of making some axe handles for the many car booot sale finds of cheap rusty axe heads which I am restoring. The method of splitting involves driving a metal wedge into the end which starts to open a split. You then place another wedge in that and hit it hard with a lump hammer which opens it further. Another wedge further along the split will then release the first one as the split widens. You carry on “leap-frogging” the wedges until you have split it along it’s entire length. Hard physical work but satisfying as you see the split widen and hear the gentle tearing sound of the fibres as they rip apart – kind of brutal in a way. Each half is then split again to make four quarters which can then be shaved and planed down to make the axe handles (also known as a hafts or helves).

I found half an eggshell and some new acorns and collected both. The shell will go in my woodland museum (the logshed) of found objects, along with the fox skull and a rotted purse. I think the egg is from a wood pigeon – nothing special (unless you are a wood pigeon too). The acorn will be planted with some others I collected.

Eggshell and acorn

I took my guests for the usual tour of my woods then back to base for a brew. They are both arty-crafty people and thought it would be interesting to show them the process of making nettle cordage that I have recently learnt. I took some previously dried fibres so they could have a go at the twisting process but started them off with the method of stripping the outer skin from the brittle inner pith ready for drying. It was a pleasant time, sitting in the dappled sunshine with occasional birdsong and speckled brown butterflies chasing each other in their mating dance.

We took a walk along the ride to the edge of the woods where it opens out onto a large field. The contrast of habitat is extreme. You step from a dark woodland full of thousands of differing life species – plants, trees, animals, insects etc into bright sunlight and a mono-culture of recently-cut wheat. It’s like stepping out of the ocean when you have been scuba diving and onto a sandy beach. Both very beautiful but so different in such a short space.

new-mown wheat field

We carried on down one of the other rides where I had seen the many tiny frogs last week. They hide in the cool, wet grass and jump out as you walk along. After several attempts to catch one I finally managed it and the beautiful little frog sat on my hand for about five minutes, probably enjoying the warmth from my hand. I know somone who is terrified of frogs and toads that may read this – sorry L.

tiny frog

We finished the day with some log chopping. It was a special day that almost didn’t happen, that I shall remember for a long time. These days are rare and to be treasured.

After