On a bright and surprisingly warm day, given some of the recent frosts,
nine of us gathered at this privately owned wood to help with the ongoing
work of hazel coppicing hazel.
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Coppicing involves cutting the hazel back
almost to ground level in order to promote new young growth which benefits
wildlife. It also lets more light into the woodland floor which encourages
spring flowers – essential food sources for spring/early summer insects. Colin, who owns the wood, impressed us with his description of the variety
of flowers that now grow in the wood, which were seen by some members of the
Group who went for a walk there last summer.
To make the best use of our time, Colin uses his chainsaw to cut down the
large hazel trees before we get there so our job is to cut them up and shift
the timber to the fire. As on previous visits, a first glance down the ride
which runs through the wood showed only a few felled trees and a promise of
a relatively easy day. That was until we saw the number of trees which had
been felled further back into the wood! However, our energy levels were
maintained by our tea and lunch breaks, with plenty of biscuits.
As always, we achieved a lot and enjoyed our time at this lovely peaceful
wood. And Colin rewarded our work with a donation to the Group’s funds –
much needed to maintain the tools that we use.
If you would like to know a bit more about coppicing, have a look at these
links.
www.coppice.org.uk/background.htm
www.handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/chapter/690
Jude