Small Woodland Owners’ Group Small Woodland Owners’ Group

Newsletter April 2015Newsletter April 2015

SWOG of the North meeting

Handling bushcraft knives

Hedging with Rich

anks to Bill and Shan Rigby for hosting awonderful meeting in their wood at the end ofFebruary. Eleanor Carr has been kind enough towrite up her impressions of the day. Rich hasshared the agony and ecstacy of creating a hedgeand John Clark provides a comprehensive andsensible feature on knife maintenance andhandling.

Copyright © Small Woodland Owners’ Group 2015

Picture credits Cover & p 3: Bill Rigby; p 2 B Burnett;p 4 Phil Hopkinson; p 5 Woodlands; p 7–9 JohnClarke; pp10-11 R Hare.

SWOG website and forumrich@swog.org.uk

SWOG co-ordinator and newsletter editorjudith@swog.org.uk

e Small Woodland Owner’s Group hasbeen formed to aid the enjoyment, diversity andconservation of British woodland. e companyWoodlands.co.uk sponsors the group, somembership is completely free and events arefree of charge unless otherwise stated. SWOG isopen to anyone interested in the management orthe enjoyment of woodland.

Follow us on Twitter @_swog

2

SWOG Course Listings

Anyone who buys a wood from Woodlands.co.uk is given £300towards a woodland course to help towards owners’ enjoymentand knowledge. ese courses can encompass anything frombasket-weaving, green woodworking or pole lathe turning, tochainsaw tuition and woodland management. Buyers are asked towrite a short resumé of their course, noting how effective they

found it, and whether they would recommend it to others. We are gradually incorporating all these valuable comments into a database listing which can be

searched by area or course topic. We hope it will be useful to anyone searching for help andguidance in choosing a woodland course. View it on the SWOG website here: www.swog.org.uk

Events and News 3SWOG of the North meetingWoodland coursesTrees for DoomsdayWoodland blogs

• Knife handling and the law 7• Hedging with Rich 10• Woodfair listing 2015 12

In this issue

Thanks to Bernie for this photo of novel squirrel

protection on a tree in Tenerife.

3

News

SWOG-of-the-North meeting,

Braffawd Wood

Eleanor Carr came away from her first SWOG

meeting favourably impressed.

Meetings north of Watford gap are apparently arare occurrence, and certainly my first ever. A bitconcerned I might be the only person notwearing the latest chainsaw, and with myextensive collection of Kevlar sadly in the wash,I roll up in ancient cagoule and welly ensemble.Great relief when similarly cagouly-welliedloiterers outside sleepy village pub turn out notto be theRamblers. Andnot a STIHLaccessory amongthem.

A few of ussuccumb toconsiderableLandrover envyon the short car-share to BraffawdWood, but wehandle it bravely.e introductionceremony reveals a fabulously diverse crew –from the couple who had owned their wood fora mere two days, to the one who had nipped outto Asda and returned with several acres of SouthYorkshire. And two sets of hithertounacquainted woodland neighbours.Woodlanders can be a secretive lot.

Braffawd’s stately pines scatter unexpectedsunshine – the trusty Cagoule is ditched for afull and courageous six minutes. ere is awoody, earthy whiff of the merest suggestion ofspringtime; a tall trunk embraced by beautifulblack bracket fungus; the contorted root matrixof a wind-felled beech. ere are bluebell shootsin all directions; we massacre thousands by ourmere existence. e welly does not make forelegant woodland tiptoe – even the two-year-olddaughter knows that, though when

demonstrating the point she looks less of atwerp.

Guest professional Ben Scotting is excellenton PAWS restoration, as well as tree care andcoppicing. And new planting. And a healthycanopy. Oh, and squirrel damage, clear felling,timber prices, native species, forestry inScotland, plantations in England, tree disease,tree protection, the commercial benefits ofownership, wildlife conservation, woodlandstructures, woodland grants and, well, prettymuch everything he is asked to talk about. A

patient treeidentificationlesson clarifies thedifferencebetween Scotsand Corsicanpine. No, don’task me – themorning’s coffeehas made its waytoo quicklysouthwards toallow foradequateconcentration;

but I think the Corsican would provide slightlymore cover, trunk-wise, should the promisedpub lunch be postponed much longer.

I came away having enjoyed the morninghugely, talked to a wealth of interesting friendlyand helpful people, and much consoled to learnhow many other wood owners begin without adarned clue what they are doing either. But howinspiring that all, veterans and novices alike, areeager to discover from patient professionals, andeach other, ways of making their woodlands ashealthy, fun and wildlife-friendly as possible. So,many thanks to Bill and Shan for hosting intheir beautiful plot, Ben for his knowledge andabundant advice, and to Judith for co-ordinating from afar. It would be great to haveanother one soon.

4

News

Malvern Coppicing courses at

Ravenshill Nature Reserve

10% discount for SWOG members

Phil Hopkinson will be running a number ofcoppicing and woodland craft coursesthroughout the year based at Ravenshill NatureReserve in rural Worcestershire. Ravenshill is a50acre privately owned ASNW woodlandreserve with a range of very diverse habitats.

He is offering a 10% discount to SWOGmembers.

Charcoal making weekend 16–17 May

is weekend starts by loading the ring kiln, wethen start the burn which carries on into thefirst night. On Sunday afternoon the kiln isopened and participants finish the course bytaking a bag of charcoal from the burn.

Introduction to green woodworking

15 May 2015; 3 July 2015; 14 August 2015;

12 September 2015

is course is based in the woodland workshopParticipants will use a range of traditional toolssuch as a drawknife and froe to cleave and peelpoles and will make a maul using breaks andshave horses.

Coppicing courses

17–18 October 2015; 21–22 November 2015

e two-day coppicing courses area aimed atsmall woodland owners who would like to gainmore knowledge about traditional woodlandmanagement. e first morning is spent walkinground the wood learning tree ID and looking atthe coppice coupes that have been cut over thelast 15 years. A small section of a coupe isworked from start to finish over the weekendculminating in each participant making aselection of products from the poles cut over theweekend.

Camping is available in the wood for courseparticipants. A cooked meal is provided each dayin the woodland workshop/ kitchen. For moreinformation visit www.malverncoppicing.co.uk

Free advice from Plumpton

College 16 April 2015, 9.30am-

4pm Woodland Enterprise Centre,

Flimwell, East Sussex, TN5 7PR

Plumpton College is running a day of freeadvice for woodland owners and managers. eyhave lined up representeatives from • East Sussex Council• Forestry Commission• DataTag• High Weald AONB• Sprint Fuels renewables

• WARR Partnership• RAMSAK machinery rings Along with experts from thePlumpton staff, they will all offer

advice on many aspects of woodlandmanagement. ere will be guidance about thegrant system and information about the latestgrants available to woodland owners. If you arein the area, it will be well worth attending. Pre-booking is vital.

For more information contact ClaireGammon on 01580 879547 or emailgammonc@plumpton.ac.uk

Introduction to Bushcraft Saturday 23rd May,

£50 per person, lunch included

Learn the principles of bushcraft with qualifiedbushcraft trainer Leo Dawson: safe use ofcutting tools; basic carving techniques;sustainable harvesting of materials; naturalfirelighting; wild food; basic tracking.

To book, email: info@primecoppice.com orcall 07778525816. You can also visit our websitewww.primecoppice.com

Prime Coppice is a 52-acre working wood inthe Marshwood Vale, near the beautiful JurassicCoast of West Dorset. the wood is the lastremaining part of an ancient woodland and is an

integral part of the local AONB. e majority ofthe wood consists of mixed ash and hazelcoppice with scattered oak and ash standards.ere are 6 acres of ancient woodland pasture,which we are restoring with sensitive grazingand management.

5

News

Woodlands blogs

Click on the titles to be taken to the full blogs onthe Woodlands.co.uk website.

Who are the Woodcraft folk?

e Woodcraft Folk is a national youth groupwith historic links similar to the scoutmovement. It encourages young people to enjoythe outdoors, while promoting internationalfellowship.

Connected woodlands

Lewis reflects on the first law of ecology, whichstates that ‘Everything is connected toeverything else’. Today, connectedness inwoodlands also extends to a vast array oftechnological sensors and data monitors thatrecord information about the natural world.

How does Inheritance tax and capital gains

work with woodlands?

Woodlands get a certain amount of protectionfrom ‘capital taxes’ to encourage investment inforestry. is blog provides a short butcomprehensive review of woods and taxes.

Woodland ants

ere are four main species of woodland ants inthe UK which have an important role to playwithin the woodland ecosystem.

Buying a woodland with your pension

Angus explains how to free up pension funds tobuy woodlands in a tax-efficient manner

Finding buried treasure in woodlands

through metal detection

If your pension won’t allow the purchase of awoodland, perhaps you’ll get lucky with a metaldetector. Robert describes his enjoyment ofmetal detecting in the woods.

6

News and events

Flora locale training

programme 2015

e Flora locale training pro-gramme is created for peopleinvolved in the design, management andrestoration of wild plants and landscapes forbiodiversity, whether on a farm, smallholding,village green or city park. Each event is led byan individual with practical experience and pro-vides an informal opportunity for participantsto learn from an expert and each other. Fees are£100 p/p per event; £75 p/p for employees orvolunteers of charities, parish councils, studentsand those not economically active, unless other-wise stated. Flora locale Associates benefit froma 10% discount on the booking fee. For moredetails about all these courses, please visit theFlora Locale website: www.floralocale.org

South-west EnglandHabitat management in new and established

woods

21 May, Chulmleigh, North Devon

Managing woodlands for pollinators and

sustainability

24 June, Chippenham, Wiltshire

Restoring and managing old orchards and

fruit trees: summer pruning

20 July, Devizes, Wiltshire

Using horses to manage

woodland sites

6 October, Chippenham,Wiltshire

South-east EnglandAn introduction to managing sites for

woodland flora

29 May, Bredhurst , Kent

Managing veteran trees: implications of

aging and decay with reference to Burnham

Beeches

12 November, Burnham Beeches, Slough

East EnglandPropagating and planting tree seeds for

woodland creation projects

18 November, Cranfield, Bedfordshire

WalesManaging woodlands and gardens for

wildlife and sustainability

15 July 10am–3.30pm, Betws y Coed, Conwy

ScotlandWoodland flora identification and

introduction

24 June, Dollar, Clackmannanshire

Managing biodiversity on a small holding

2 July, Aberdeen, Scotland

Trees for Doomsday

e ‘doomsday’ vault in Svalbard, Norway,widely known for protecting global food cropseeds, has accepted its first delivery of forest treespecies seeds.

Norway spruce and Scots pine samples havebeen stored in the vault inside a mountain onthe Arctic archipelago. e work onconservation of forest tree seeds at Svalbard wasinitiated in 2008, when the importance oftree‐breeding, including genetic adaptation toclimate change was underlined. Other nationsare expected to contribute tree seeds later.

e frozen depository opened in 2008 and isdesigned to withstand all natural and humandisasters.

One researcher said, ‘e catastrophe schemeis not a major motivation for me. It is moreimportant that these samples will provide anopportunity to monitor long-term changes inthe genetic composition of our natural forests.’

e website is https://www.regjeringen.no.

7

Sub titleKnife maintenance, handling and the law

A good quality bushcraft knife does not need

to cost the earth. John Clark of Bowji

Bushcraft describes how to use knives safely

and legally.

A strong ‘entry level’ knife – and a favouriteof many woodsmen – is the ‘Mora’. Myrecommendation would be one of the MoraHeavy Duty series which, with a 3 to 4 mmthick 4 inch blade, will handle most of theabuse you are likely to put it through; and forless than £15.00.

You can go mad and pay anything up to £450for a similar knife if you are in the market for ahand-made British forged ‘family heirloom’.

Whatever price you pay, the blade will usuallycome with a razor-sharp polished finish. Inorder to keep your blade in similar workingcondition over time, we will look at knife-handling, cutting techniques and maintenance.

But firstly, carrying a razor sharp 4 inch bladewhilst travelling to and from your woods mightarouse the suspicions of your local police officer,so let’s take a brief look at UK knife law.

Under UK law it is illegal to

• sell a knife of any kind (including cutlery andkitchen knives) to anyone under 18.• carry a knife in public without good reason –unless it’s a knife with a folding blade 3 incheslong (7.62 cm) or less, e.g. aSwiss Army knife.• carry, buy or sell any type ofbanned knife.• use any knife in a threateningway.

e penalty for an adultcarrying a knife can be a prisonsentence and /or a sizable fine.

ere are acceptable reasonsfor carrying a knife in public.Examples include:• taking knives you use at workto and from work.• taking knives to a gallery or

museum to be exhibited.• using the knife for theatre, film, television,historical re-enactment or religious purposes(e.g. the kirpan some Sikhs carry).• fishing• taking your knife to woodlands to be used forbushcraft activities and woodland tasks.

However do use caution – the police mighthave a different point of view. A knife in a toolbox is a lot easier to explain than one carried onyour hip! Remember to take the knife off yourbelt and place it in the boot of the car whenleaving the woods.

If you find yourself charged with illegallycarrying a knife, a court will ultimately decide ifyou’ve got a good reason for carrying it. ere is

a complete ban on some knives.e list can be seen here, butthose typically used for bushcraftare not on it.

Safe handling and use

Handling and using your knifesafely can be achieved byfollowing a few straightforwardrules 1. Use a sheath. A good sheathprotects both the knife and thecarrier.2. Get into the habit of alwaysreturning the knife to its sheath(even mid-task) rather than

8

Knife maintenance, handling and the law

laying it on the ground or placing it in a pocket.3. e ground and soil are damp. Never stick aknife into the earth as it damages the blade andruins the edge.4. Placing an unprotected, razor-sharp knife in apocket is an obvious no-no!5. Returning a blade to its sheath mid-taskprevents a mishap when suddenly distracted, e.g.wiping sweat from your face, or slapping at ahorse fly nibbling on your leg.6. When passing a knife to someone, do so in thefollowing manner:

• handle first• edge of blade up• with spine of blade lying along the arm of

the giver.

Basic cutting techniques

Forehand grip is is the strongest grip and oneyou are probably likely to use most often.

e cutting action is always away from thehand holding the wood. It is very tempting tooccasionally reverse direction,cutting towards yourself.Don’t – it will end in tears! Ihave plenty of scars as proof!

Backhand grip e use of thebackhand grip allows you tomake fine, powerful cuts whilemaintaining good control ofthe blade. It is commonly usedwhen whittling.

Chest lever grip Often used in conjunction withthe backhand grip, the chest lever grip gives yougreater leverage without losing control.

Battening Using a mallet or stick to drive theblade into a log to split it. is puts a great dealof stress on a knife, hence the preference for afull tang blade. When cutting or whittling wood,use a slicing action and follow the grain of thewood

Passing a knife safely.

Forehand grip

Chest lever grip Unsafe cutting

Battening

9

Sub titleKnife maintenance, handling and the law

Basic rules of safety

• ink about the follow-through – take care not to getyourself or others in the way.• When sitting down, keepyour elbows on your knees –this creates a stable working platform and an ‘area of safety‘into which the blade can pass.• Stop when tired.• Keep a basic first aid kitnearby.

Care and maintenance

• Blades need to kept sharp – adull blade is both ineffectiveand dangerous• Many wood saps stain and also corrode theblade – clean carefully after every use.• High carbon steel is prone to rust – keepclean, dry and lightly oiled with gun oil,vegetable oil or even goose fat.

Sharpening and polishing

Sharpening is a skilled process that requires careand practice. ere are many ways to sharpen ablade, but I have found that the best results areachieved by:

• Using a ceramic or Japanese whetstonesystem.• Laying the blade on the stone with the blade.away from you, then tilting until bevel lies flatagainst the stone.• Working the blade away from you, strokingthe blade with the bevel flat against the stone.• Reversing the side and repeating the process.

Polishing can be done using a leather ‘belt’-style strop tied to a fixed object and pulledtaught. Alternatively, use a piece of leather

‘cloth’ on a hard surface andapply a polishing agent to theleather (such as ‘Starkie Blue’– also known as Smurf poo!)

A definitive guide to the law

on carrying and handling

knives in the UK is available

on the government website

here: www.gov.uk/buying-

carrying-knives

John Clark runs Bowji Bush

Camping in Cornwall. Take a

look at his website for a full

list of courses and training.

Sharpening a knife on a whetstone

Polishing a blade using starkie blue

10

Planting a new hedge

For many woodland owners especially those

with ancient woodlands, our hedges are our

boundaries. They may have been planted

hundreds of years ago, and some are still

managed as hedges, having been layed,

pollarded or coppiced many times. Others

might be unrecognisable as a hedge, more a

line of full grown trees which is what all

hedges aspire to be eventually!

Managing an old hedge is a labour-intensivebusiness. Planting a new hedge . . . is alsolabour-intensive! It is however, a very satisfyingand rewarding experience – at least that’s whatyou will be telling yourself once you’ve put thelast plant in and are soothing your achingmuscles in a warm bath.ere are very good reasons to plant a hedgeinstead of using wire fencing:• ey provide food and shelter for wildlife.• ey increase biodiversity.• Managed properly they can be as stock-proofas a wire fence.• You may be able to get support in the form ofa grant to help pay some of the costs.• ey look much better and are continuallyproviding interest as they change with theseasons.• Despite the amount of work – planting,weeding, watering in the early years, thentrimming and relaying every 15 years – thebenefits make the effort very worthwhile.

Choosing species - a fun process!

I whittled my original list down to nine possiblespecies. I wanted as much diversity as possible,whilst providing shelter and a visual screen yearround. Hawthorn is always going to be high onthe list of any native hedge. Tried and testedover the years, it is hardy, provides blossom andfruit, and you can even add the young leaves toa salad. is was the basis of the hedge; otherspecies I chose were hornbeam as, like beech, itkeeps its leaves in the winter, but is hardier inthe wet. I had noticed a lot of holly thriving in

the area and as Iwas planting atriple row, I usedit for the centreof the hedge,along with a fewwild privet fortheir year-roundscreeningqualities.Blackthorn, crabapple, two roses– gueldar anddog – would add to the nectar and fruitingpossibilities, and field maple would provide alovely autumnal colour. I planted one wildservice tree about six years old as a standard atthe start of the hedge. I chose this as it is anincreasingly rare ancient woodland species,much prized for its timber, but also because itprovides fruit for the birds and has a beautifulshaped leaf and autumn colour.

Preparation

Preparation started last summer. You really wantto start with a blank canvas to give the youngtrees the best start in life. I chose to use aherbicide to kill off the grass and weeds in ametre-wide strip where the hedge would be. I’mnot overly keen on using chemicals, but thealternative on a hedge this long isn’t reallypractical. Aweed barriercloth and mulchover the sitewould work fineif left down fora year, but isexpensive andlabour intensive.

I treated thearea in July,then went backa couple of

11

Planting a new hedge

months later and reapplied it. Once it was alldead in a dry spell later in the season, Iborrowed a friend’s blow torch and burnt off allthe dead material. All this doesn’t seem very eco-friendly, but rationalising it, if this hedge isgoing to be around for the next few hundredyears, the benefits to wildlife and biodiversity inthe future are going to far outweigh this short-term destruction.

When I’ve planted hedges in the past, I haveused a spiral or tube to protect the plant fromrabbits, and a bamboo stake to hold them inplace. In this hedge I wanted toensure a thick, healthy and stock-proof growth from the bottom.So I intended to cut the plantsback to between 6 and 8 inchesand encourage this growth in theearly years. Using a spiral makesthis awkward, so I decided toprotect the whole hedge with adouble rabbit proof fence. isdefinitely IS expensive and timeconsuming, but again, Irationalised to myself that 90%of the hard work in any project is in thebeginning during the preparation.

Putting up a rabbit-proof fence involves a bitmore than a stock fence. Long term, once thehedge is established, I’d like to remove all thewire and netting completely. Future hedge layers(maybe even myself!) will be grateful for this,but in the meantime a robust fence is needed toprotect the young plants. Rabbits are obviouslyquite adept at burrowing so the netting needs tobe buried under the ground. e easiest way isto chop out some turfs about 10” wide, and laythe netting on the bare earth in the directionyou are expecting the rabbits to ‘attack’, thenreplace the sods (that’s the turfs not the rabbits).Hang the netting from tensioned line wires topand bottom with netting clips, sometimes called‘hog rings’. Because you are tensioning the lines,you will need to use thicker strainer posts and

struts to ensure the tension in the lines does notpull the posts out of the ground.

All in all, quite an effort, but after sixmonths, a good few hundred quid and countlesshours labour, eventually came the time to startplanting!

Planting

By comparison, planting is relatively simple.Some people slot plant their young trees, by justwiggling a spade in the ground to create a slot toput the roots in. I prefer to dig a hole; it doesn’t

take much longer, but actually asthis soil was quite nice andfriable, I used a petrol drivenauger which produced a 4” holebig enough and deep enough toget the roots in and covered. Iadded a small handful of bloodand bone fertiliser. A lot ofpeople don’t bother as it canencourage weeds, but if you areusing mulch, this will helpmaintain the nitrogen level.Make sure you don't allow your

bare-rooted plants to dry out. It's best to planton a damp drizzly day, but if not, cover theplants with a damp rag and water well once inthe ground.

Finally, I cut the trees back to encourage astrong lateral growth from the bottom. At theend of the growing season I will probably cutback half of the growth again and hopefully, agood thick hedge will take shape. Annual orbiannual trimming can be done until, in 15years or so, as the hedge plants strain to becometrees, it will need laying. I’m clearing my diaryfor winter 2030 and will probably be lookingfor more volunteers by then!Rich Hare planted the hedge thanks in part to

a grant from the Community Landscape Fund

and with support from the High Weald AONB.

He is also grateful for more than a little help

from his friends and family.

12

Sub titleWoodfairs

The woodfair season is nearly upon us!

Woodlands.co.uk and SWOG will be at

Woodfest Wales, Westonbirt and Bentley.

Please send us details of your event.

Weird and Wonderful Wood

16–17 May 2015 Haughley Park, Wetherden,Stowmarket, Suffolkwww.weirdandwonderfulwood.co.uk

The Bushcraft Show

23–25 May 2015 Beehive Farm WoodlandLakes, Rosliston, Derbyshirewww.thebushcraftshow.co.uk

Royal Highland Show 2015

18–21 June Edinburghwww.royalhighlandshow.org

Woodfest Wales

26–28 June 2015 Caerwys, North Waleswww.woodfestwales.co.uk

Blackdown Hills Woodland Fair

4th July Wrangway near Wellington, Somersetwww.woodbiz.co.uk

Woodlands Country Show

11–12 July 2015 Royal Victoria Country Park,Southampton, Hampshirewww.woodlandcrafts.co.uk

New Forest and Hampshire Show

29–31 July 2015 Brockenhurst, Hampshirewww.newforestshow.co.uk

Treefest at Westonbirt Arboretum

29–31 August 2015 Tetbury, Gloucestershirewww.forestry.gov.uk

Stock Gaylard Oak Fair

29–30 August 2015 Sturminster Newton, Dorsetwww.stockgaylard.com

National Forest Woodfair

31 August 2015 Beacon Hill Country Park, Leicestershire (early bird ticket discount until 5May) www.nationalforest.org

Wychwood Forest Fair

6 September 2015 Charlbury, Oxfordshirewww.wychwoodproject.org

Confor Woodland Show 2015

10–11 September 2015Longleat Estate, Wiltshirewww.confor.org.uk

European Woodworking Show

12–13 September 2015, Cressing Temple Barns,Essex www.europeanwoodworkingshow.eu

Bentley Weald 20th Anniversary Woodfair

18–20 September 2015 Lewes, East Sussexwww.bentley.org.uk/events

Surrey Hills Woodfair

3–4 October 2015 Birtley House, Bramleywww.surreyhills.org

Cranborne Chase Woodfair

3–4 October 2015, Fordingbridge, Hampshirewww.woodfair.org.uk

Peebles Wood Market

24–25 October 2015 Tweed Green &Community Hall, Peebles, Scottish Borderswww.forest-festival.com/wood-market

Free entry to Bentley Woodfair

One of the highlights of the year is the

woodfair at Bentley, where SWOG has a stall

decked out with woodland products, various

displays and Rich’s rocket stoves, which

provide a constant supply of tea. The SWOG

team is small – just two of us – and we are

always really grateful for the support of

SWOG members in manning the stall.

If you would like to help out by doing a

couple of hours on the stall, talking to fellow

members, or even recruiting new ones,

please get in touch. In return, we are

offering free entry to the Bentley Woodfair.

Please email judith@swog.org.uk or

rich@swog.org.uk