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- Herausgeber: Crowood
- Kategorie: Lebensstil
- Sprache: Englisch
Coppicing is an ancient method of enhancing woodland biodiversity. The key to successful coppicing is to nurture the new coppice shoots. In return, a coppice will provide an endless supply of wood for a wide range of uses, and the authors present detailed instruction on how to produce many kinds of woodland products from besom brooms, firewood and charcoal to more challenging items such as hazel hurdles and coracles. Topics covered in Coppicing & Coppice Crafts include; how to find a suitable woodland and the pitfalls involved; the equipment, tools and resources that you will need, together with health and safety issues; tax issues, the law and what you can and cannot do; all aspects of coppice management including pests and diseases, and how to plant a new coppice; the flora and fauna of the coppice and how it should be managed; a wide range of coppice woods and crafts and how the products are made; wood as a fuel, including charcoal-making, the best types of wood to burn, wood-fired boilers, woodchips, pellets, kindling, logs and much more, with a useful glossary, bibliography and list of addresses.
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Seitenzahl: 355
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012
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Copyright
First published in 2010 by The Crowood Press Ltd, Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 2HR
www.crowood.com
This e-book edition first published in 2012
© Rebecca Oaks and Edward Mills 2010
All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
ISBN 978 1 84797 467 9
Disclaimer Chainsaws and many other tools used in coppicing and the coppice trades are potentially dangerous. All chainsaws and other tools and equipment used in coppicing work should be used in strict accordance with both current health and safety regulations and the manufacturer’s instructions. The authors and the publisher do not accept any responsibility in any manner whatsoever for any error or omission, or any loss, damage, injury, adverse outcome, or liability of any kind incurred as a result of the use of the information contained in this book, or reliance upon it. If in doubt about any aspect of coppicing or the coppicing trades readers are advised to seek professional advice.
Contents
Acknowledgements
RO
Thanks to all those who have supported me whilst writing this book. My colleagues and trusted apprentices, Mike Carswell and Sam Ansell, who have kept the business going in my distracted absence. Friends who have proof-read the chapters: Pat Urry, Lynne Alexander, Helen Shacklady and Kath Morgan. All my colleagues involved in the Bill Hogarth MBE Memorial Apprenticeship Trust and Coppice Association North West for their dedication to the cause and constant reaffirmation of the importance of coppicing. Particular thanks to Brian Crawley, Paul Girling, Edward Acland, Twiggy and, further afield, Steve Homewood and Alan Waters. To Bill Hogarth himself who inspired and mentored me from the start. Thanks to Julian Bingley for inspiration for the map and to Madeline Holloway for lending me a pen. Lastly, thanks to my partner Amanda Bingley for her unstinting support.
EJM
I would like to thank my employers and their funders for allowing me to work on this book during time for which they were partly paying; they include Cumbria County Council, the Forestry Commission and Natural England. Thanks also to my colleagues for their support while I wasn’t in the office. I offer my thanks to the numerous people who have helped with advice, comments and images, including (in no particular order) Chris Starr, Alan Shepley, Alan Waters, Debbie Bartlett, Jackie Dunne, Iris Glimmerveen, Tim Youngs and Teresa Morris for her fantastic photographs of deer. I would like to thank my family for being patient while I have been tucked away in my study and not attending as much as I should to family and household affairs. I owe a debt of gratitude for the inspiration of Oliver Rackham, Bill Hogarth, Colin Simpson and Martin Clark.
We should also like to thank the publisher, The Crowood Press for their advice and support.
All photographs are by Edward Mills and Rebecca Oaks, except where indicated.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the memory of Colin Simpson.
Foreword
Coppicing makes use of a mysterious property that most trees have:when cut down they do not die but grow again from the stump or roots. People have used this behaviour for at least 6,000 years to generate renewable supplies of wood for fuel or to use for many crafts, simple or specialized. For centuries most woods in England and Wales were coppices: woodland plants and animals became adapted to cycles of years of light and years of shade. In the twentieth century coppicing fell into decline owing to competition from fossil fuels, competition for labour, competition for land from the rising fashion for plantation forestry, and lack of organization and marketing. Woods were neglected and became continuously shaded, to which their plants and animals were not adapted. Since the 1950s interest in coppicing has revived among those interested in conserving woodland ecology, followed by those interested in woodland crafts and in reviving renewable energy. At the same time it has encountered a new threat from ever-increasing numbers of deer, not present before, which devour the young shoots.
This book is written for anyone interested in coppicing – for anyone acquiring a wood and wanting to know what they are letting themselves in for, for those seeking to understand what the county wildlife trust is doing to its woodland, those who love the nightingales and the ancient many-stemmed trees and the spring flowers, and anyone who delights in making things.
Professor Oliver Rackham, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Chapter 1
Setting the Scene – An Introduction to Coppicing
Sustainability is a word that has been much overused during the last twenty years. However, the art of coppicing must be the ultimate sustainable woodland management technique. In a well-managed coppice there is no need for herbicides or fertilizers, no need to disturb the soil or to plant trees, no need to use tree shelters or to put up fences. The coppice is entirely self-renewing. Those who have coppiced trees and experienced the magical transformation of regrowth springing from the cut stump will never forget it or cease to be amazed by it each year. The burst of new life stimulated by the sun’s warmth and light is surely one of Britain’s most under-rated wildlife wonders.
As the coppice grows, a revolution occurs. Over one growing season the bare, forlorn coppice floor becomes a scene of riotous new growth, burgeoning shoots growing at a rate that you can almost see. In the case of the ultimate coppice species, hazel, in a few short years the rods are ready to be cut again and the quality of the raw materials will be evident. These self-renewing, sustainable materials are used to make products as varied as thatching spars to bean-poles and hurdle rods, and seem to be growing if not for free, then simply for the effort you put in to coppicing them.
Burgeoning life in a newly cut coppice.
Wattling; strong, light and very versatile. (Photo: Anna Gray)
The knowledge of our ancestors of the potential of woods to renew themselves with speed and abundance is equalled by their ingenuity for finding uses for this natural bounty. We can only speculate how far back the skills of the hazel hurdle-maker reach, but we do know that the wattle of our old timber houses must have a lineage that stretches from our earliest attempts to fashion a shelter from entwined branches. The transitory nature of the material leaves no trace in the archaeological record, except of course in those fabled Somerset peat bogs, where trackways dating back to 3000BC have been found, made of ‘interwoven underwood rods, grown for the purpose’ (Rackham 1986). So from houses, to roads, to fences and pens; all manner of necessities for human survival were first sprung from the coppice woods of Britain.
Amazingly, although coppice woods have been out of favour or out of fashion for at least fifty years, we do still have a coppice industry in Britain. Coppice workers have weathered the advent of plastics that have made our rich and varied heritage of baskets almost obsolete, and sent a simple wooden item such as a cotton reel to oblivion. Post-World War II, a chemical revolution almost put paid to the oak bark tanning industry and a tide of cheap plastic imports replaced many of our coppice crafts. This mass manufacturing threatened to chase all our homegrown craftspeople out of the woods; however, an appreciation of natural products and skills has saved these stalwarts from extinction.
Seven-year-old hazel ready to be cut again.
At a recent coppice conference held in the North-West of England, the range of experience of coppicing was striking. There is a remarkable variation in what coppicing means to people today. In effect, there is a time-line that stretches the length of the country starting in Kent, where the chestnut coppice industry is still fairly intact, and leading up through the country to the Highlands and islands of Scotland, which have not seen coppicing for many generations. Kent and East Sussex are fortunate to have a chestnut paling industry that employs people who have a family connection with coppicing. These people often started their coppicing career straight after leaving school and took up specialist skills within their industry, following directly in the footsteps of their forebears.
The old and the new: swill baskets and plastic bags.
As you move west you come into the heartland of the hazel coppice industry in West Sussex and Hampshire, where the evidence for the recent coppice industry is plain to see in the swathes of coppiced woods in a variety of conditions from active management to dereliction. Hazel coppice, in particular the hurdle industry, went into decline when these products were out of favour and the markets looked like they were disappearing. Jonathon Howe highlighted the decline of the hazel coppice industry in his report to Hampshire County Council (1991) and stimulated a fresh look at the potential of this resource. Today there is a healthy number of folk involved in coppicing in Hampshire, both those with a long-term family connection to coppicing and a fair scattering of ‘newcomers’ who have carved a more modern model of coppice working. At the NW coppice conference, Professor Ted Collins drew our attention to these two differing styles of coppice worker: the ones who adhere to an ‘old tradition’ of specialist skills, the ‘hurdle-maker’, ‘spar maker’ and ‘woodcutter’, who joined the industry straight from school and have years of experience and knowledge to draw on; and a new breed of highly educated coppice workers who have mixed businesses with an emphasis on teaching and public education, ‘spreading the word’ like modern coppice evangelists (Collins 2004).
These modern coppice workers can be found in all regions that have a vestige of recent coppice history. In the Midlands and the East of England, and even in the South-West, continuity of coppicing was broken only a generation ago. If you are lucky there may be a few retired coppicemen to pester for information on how, where, when and why coppicing was done. In South Cumbria, North-West England, Bill Hogarth MBE (1929–99) worked as a coppice merchant. He came from the ‘old tradition’, learning his craft from his father. Bill knew all about the long hours and high productivity that was essential to make a living producing, what were essentially low-value products, such as bobbin wood and ships’ fenders. Thankfully he also realized the importance of passing on his skills to a new generation, and was always generous with his knowledge.
A chestnut paling mountain.
Alan Waters demonstrating at a local show.
Bill Hogarth engaging a group of students.
Further north again, in amongst the fabulous oak/hazel woods of Argyll, the evidence for coppicing is found in historical records and woodland archaeology. It is much harder to reinstate coppicing when there is no one left to remember and to argue the case for this form of woodland management.
The evidence for coppicing remains in many woodlands, often in the beguiling guise of our woodland flora. It is no great mystery that the demise of our woodland butterflies has gone hand in hand with the loss of coppiced woodland. The great resurgence of coppicing as the woodland management tool of choice has been driven in many parts of the country not by economics but by conservation. Habitat restoration and species protection have stimulated an explosion of spending on coppice restoration in a few areas. But in the past we didn’t have to rely on the public purse to create the habitat that these creatures need: the coppice workers throughout history did that as an entirely incidental by-product of their industry. Today, coppice workers are endeavouring to bring these two sometimes opposing approaches together to create habitatand species’-rich woodlands, at the same time as carving a living within the woods.
Although coppicing as a woodland-management technique is, in all probability, thousands of years old, it is as relevant today as it has ever been. Coppice workers are skilled and passionate about delivering all the ‘outputs’ that we demand from our woodlands. They are the epitome of the sustainable rural livelihood, living close to their natural resource and supplying basic requirements, such as firewood, as well as products that may be considered a luxury or just simply beautiful. By and large they are a contented group, due to the healthy outdoor lifestyle and the satisfaction of working with nature, who get immense satisfaction from making and selling products that may seem obscure.
Edward Acland making ash gate hurdles.
It is essential that the skills of coppicing and the coppice crafts are kept alive today and into the future. If all our old coppices are converted to ‘non-intervention’ woods, as some would want us to do, there will be a net loss of biodiversity. Many people think that nature can look after itself and should be left to do so. However, humans have been coppicing, quite possibly in some places for thousands of years, and even if wildlife has not actually evolved to take advantage of this, some wildlife has certainly taken advantage and greatly enlarged its population. In fact it is hard to believe that some wildlife, which has a short annual life-cycle, has not evolved over thousands of generations to maximize the use of coppice rotations to enhance its success as a species. There are some experts who would have us believe that coppicing should not be contemplated for fear of a loss of biodiversity, even though there is clear evidence that it has been carried out in the recent past. Only a small fraction of the area coppiced, say, one hundred years ago, is still coppiced today; in contrast, there are thousands of hectares of rather bland, uniform woods that will take another thousand years to capture the wildlife of an old coppice.
There has been much interest in the twenty-first century in education in a forest setting – the Forest Schools or Woodland Classrooms concept. This is a tremendous idea, is rightly very popular and works very well in a world where children are increasingly disconnected from their natural environment. One of the authors is convinced his passion for trees and woodlands was begun by a visit to a school wild area, which was in fact a medieval hedgerow and was packed full of an amazing variety of species in a small space. So, what better place to study than an actively managed coppice? Children can not only learn the usual standard numeracy and literacy, but can also cut materials and make things from them. They can learn how to build dens, make fire and to use it for cooking. Many children will remember this kind of experience for the rest of their lives and, for some, the experience will be a life-changing one.
In a similar way, coppicing by hand is a fantastic way to get volunteers involved in the great outdoors. People can learn about the wildlife of coppiced woodlands and observe it at firsthand, as well as taking home raw materials or simple products they might have made. It’s a healthy pursuit and a first-time coppice volunteer will find that muscles have been used that have not been used for a long time.
Some people who have tried their hand at coppicing as a volunteer discover that they have a creative streak and have a hidden talent at making things with the materials they’ve cut. Clearly this is important and should be encouraged as there is a legacy in Britain of crafts and skills, many of which have already been lost or forgotten. There is a need for continuity to preserve and honour this heritage of coppice skills and crafts.
This book aims to show you how to fulfil your dreams; whether you are an aspiring land-owner, an enthusiastic volunteer or a budding coppice worker, to acquire a wood, get the equipment and the skills that you need, and to start coppicing. We hope to inspire you with the chapters on the wildlife benefits and the fantastic products that can be gained from the woods. And, finally, to encourage you to take the plunge, give up the day job and make coppicing your life.
The woodland classroom: inspiring the young.
Chapter 2
Looking for a Suitable Wood
INTRODUCTION – WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS?
Given the option, most people who have ever even thought about it, would want to own their own woodland. Of course, this is frequently just not a practical proposition given the value of land. However, since the turn of the century, woodland ownership has become more popular and much more accessible, despite the cost.
Although there is a lot of information in this chapter, and it’s full of ‘make sure’ and ‘don’t forget to’, it’s actually incredibly easy to purchase a wood and wonderfully satisfying. Please don’t let any of the guidance in this chapter put you off. After the purchase is made and you visit your new acquisition, the concept of woodland ownership can seem unreal. For a novice land-owner, to be able to walk through your own woods and realize that it really is up to you how this wood is managed, can take a long time to sink in.
You may want to consider purchasing your wood with family and/or friends. This could give you a larger budget to look for a bigger wood, and more resources when it comes to managing and looking after it. It can also be more fun to share the work and the enjoyment with other people. If buying a wood is beyond your means, then do not despair as there are many other options such as leasing or short-term contracts, all of which we will look at in this chapter. The advice given here is relevant regardless of whether you own or lease the wood.
FIRST, FIND A WOOD
Woodland purchase might seem daunting, but the process is just like purchasing any other land-related property, such as a house. The most common difficulty is how to find a wood on which to make an offer. Most housing estate agents don’t deal with land. This is usually the preserve of more specialist companies such as land agents or auction marts. The best place to keep an eye on what’s coming up for sale in your own area is the local newspaper, especially if it’s a rural one with a farming section. Once you can identify which companies normally deal with land sales, you can keep checking their website too. Although word-of-mouth is a valuable way of finding out which land is coming up for sale, it can be difficult to get into this network unless you already live and/or work within that rural community. If your heart is set on owning a wood regardless of where it is, you’ll need to rely on a company that has national coverage, and keep checking their website or ask to be put on their mailing list.
Check out the Legal Issues
It is just as important to get your solicitor to carry out the local authority searches on a woodland purchase as it is on a house. There could be issues about planning, access or water supply, for example. It is essential that you read the particulars of a sale carefully and, if you have any queries or if something isn’t mentioned, then you or your solicitor should ask. On the opposite page there is a checklist of things to find out.
What to Pay?
There are a number of features that can either enhance or lower the value of a wood on the open market. Features that can increase the amount that people are prepared to pay include: good access to and within the wood; woodlands located in well-known areas of landscape beauty; timber of commercial value; a water feature, such as a pond, lake or riverside; or fishing rights. Usually, woodland in the South-East of England is valued at more than woodland elsewhere in the country. Clearly, broad-leaved or mixed woodland with bluebells in spring will fetch more than a dark spruce plantation. Woodlands that are lower in value include those that are remote with poor access; younger, less mature woods with a lower commercial timber value; conifer woodlands generally, and especially those that have been unthinned or are neglected. Woods with apparent safety hazards and liabilities will also fetch a lower price.
Checklist of things to check when you purchase woodland
The exact boundaries of the land.Who has responsibility for the maintenance of the boundaries? Although it might be attractive if neighbouring land-owners are responsible for all the boundary hedges, walls or fences, how easy will it be for you to persuade them to maintain them? It may be easier for you to have the responsibility.Access to and from the land – if you don’t own direct access off the public highway, you will need a formal (legal) right of access across someone else’s land.Is water supplied to a neighbour from the wood? This is usually only an issue in upland areas; it shouldn’t affect the way you manage your wood.All woods have shooting rights attached to them. You need to check whether these have been sold separately at some time in the past or whether they still go with the wood and are, therefore, included in the sale. If you do not hold the shooting rights, the person who does is entitled to shoot game or pest species in your wood, whether you approve or not.Are the mineral rights included in the sale? If you don’t hold the mineral rights (a relatively unusual situation), they are probably held by a large quarrying or mining company. Clearly, if a wood is quarried, there won’t be much left of it at the end of the quarrying operation!Are there any special covenants on the land? Land is sometimes sold with a covenant prohibiting erection of buildings, for example.Are there any grant schemes on the land that are current? Some grant schemes have liabilities attached to them; for example, if you purchase a piece of land with a ‘re-stocking obligation’ on it (i.e. the owner is required by the Forestry Commission to replant trees after a felling operation), as the new owner you may be obliged to fulfil it.Is the land located in a designated landscape; for example, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or a National Park?Does the wood itself have any designations? If the wood is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), you will need permission to do almost anything in the wood. If it is covered by a Tree Preservation Order or it is within a conservation area, different rules apply – see Chapter 3.Are there any services, wayleaves or easements in the wood? These could include water and gas pipes, and electricity and telephone cables, either above or below ground. Utilities companies will normally have a right of access across your land for maintenance purposes.Liabilities and hazards. If the wood encompasses a road or other rights of way, there will be health and safety issues that will have to be addressed. Usually, the greater the hazard, i.e. if lots of people use the right of way, the more the risk needs to be reduced. Although this kind of thing shouldn’t stop you purchasing, leasing or managing a wood, it must be considered. If there is tree safety work needed, it can be expensive and you will have to take responsibility for getting the work done.Does anyone have third-party rights? The neighbouring farmer may have a right to take livestock through your wood from one field to another; this could involve several tractor journeys per day.Woods with water usually fetch a higher price than those without.
A re-stock site involves a lot of work but may be relatively cheap.(Photo: Ted Wilson)
Conifer woodlands generally cost less than broadleaved woods.
The price of woodland and forests is usually referred to per acre or hectare (ha). For the new woodland owner this may be helpful as a rough guide, but sometimes the value of the wood to a prospective buyer bears little relation to the traditional price per hectare of woodland. Some buyers may be quite happy paying the same as a large new car for just an acre or two, whilst others search for better value for money. As we write, broad-leaved woodland in England rarely sells for less than £3,000/ha (£1,400/acre) and can sell for up to £25,000/ha (£10,000/acre); normally, there is an economy of scale in purchasing larger woods – these sell for less per hectare, whereas smaller woods sell for more per hectare.
If you find a wood that is coming up for sale by auction and you’ve never been to a land auction before, it is worth going to one to find out how it operates and to familiarize yourself with the situation. If you have any questions or there is anything unclear about access or shooting rights, for example, do make sure you get clarification on these vital issues before bidding begins. Auctions can be very exiting (especially if you are bidding!) and often have a tense atmosphere that can be cut with a knife – groups of people whispering suspiciously, furtive glances to competing parties – it can all be rather intimidating. If you’ve decided to bid, be sure what your upper bidding limit is – once the hammer goes down on your winning bid, you’re legally obliged to purchase. Remember that before you leave the auction room, most auctioneers require a deposit of 10 per cent (usually), so you’ll need your cheque book and the available funds in your bank.
Wood-lotting
There are companies now that specialize in purchasing woods and dividing them into smaller and thus cheaper plots, making purchase more affordable. For some people (and some woods), this is an excellent solution, putting woodlands in need of sympathetic management in touch with people who have the resources and enthusiasm to invest in improving the wood. However, sometimes these companies have come under great criticism for purchasing large woods and sub-dividing them into many very small plots (some of the plots are as small as 30m2) and selling these for immense profits. This has become known as ‘wood-lotting’ and has the potential to be a disaster for the wood.
If you are tempted to purchase a wood-lot, even if it’s not that small, you need to think very carefully before spending your hard-earned money in this way. If a wood is divided up into a hundred units, it is unlikely that their owners will all be working to the same management objectives. A study has shown that 75 per cent of wood-lots are in ancient semi-natural woodland (Kent Wood-Lotting, Land Use Consultants 2007). Some owners purchase their wood-lot as an investment or with the aim of obtaining planning permission, with no intention of managing the wood. Most do not obtain advice and are often unaware of statutory controls such as felling licences or tree preservation orders (although at least one of these companies provides free membership of the Small Woods Association and the Royal Forestry Society as part of the sale and currently has a free website packed full of resources). Some owners erect tool sheds or other structures, which results in a net loss of irreplaceable ancient woodland, and some lots are incorporated directly into back gardens where the lot abuts an urban area; some owners keep horses or pigs, causing damage to the wood and there are sometimes damaging recreational activities.
All in all, the story of wood-lotting is not a very happy one and frequently results in a net decline in the condition of the woodland.
Renting or Leasing a Wood
You might decide that leasing or renting some woodland is a better option than purchase. Of course, it’s certainly a cheaper option, but it may well be as difficult to find a wood to lease as it is to buy. Woods to rent are only very rarely advertised, despite there being thousands of hectares of neglected woodland that would benefit from the kind of care that many people could give it. The only probable way of finding a woodland owner likely to enter into this kind of arrangement is by word of mouth and personal approaches.
Some owners would expect to be paid an annual rent but there are other kinds of owners who may allow you to manage woodland in return for your services; this could be supplying them with firewood, or perhaps renewing a fence or hedgerow boundary, improving access to the wood or some other return from your activity in the wood. It may be worth offering a return of this sort to the owner as any cash rental income from the wood for them is likely to be relatively small (even if it might be large for you!).
It is important to have a contract to protect both parties. This should stipulate when the rent or lease period starts and finishes, what the payment is (if any), any times when the owner does not want access (e.g. during a shoot), who is responsible for the repair of access and so on. In the same way that an owner should have a contract for any work going on in a wood, or for timber sales, you need to make sure that you do not find yourself liable for unexpected costs. The contract should also include what you are going to do in the wood and who is responsible for applying for the felling licence and any other permissions needed (see Chapter 3 for more on felling licence regulations and other legislation).
Some owners will feel more comfortable if you can provide references and show them evidence that you know what you’re doing! Certificates from relevant courses attended could be helpful; if you intend to use a chainsaw, you will definitely need to hold the NPTC CS30/31 chainsaw certificate in order to satisfy your insurance company and that of the owner. This is a grey area, and many owners will be happy to allow you to work in their woodland without insurance, risk assessments or the relevant qualifications. This is all well and good until there is an accident and then problems arise with liability, compensation and the potential for a very expensive court case. If you negotiate an arrangement with an owner whose woodland is entered into one of the certification schemes, you will definitely require all the relevant certificates. This is likely to include a current chainsaw certificate and public liability insurance as a minimum.
Using a chainsaw with all the Personal Protective Clothing (PPE).
READING THE WOODLAND
First – Look at Maps of the Wood
If a woodland is coming up for sale that you think might be suitable, first look at the woodland on a map. The spacing of the contours will give you a good idea of the terrain before you visit. You will also be able to tell from the map which way the wood faces (aspect); although this is probably not important for most people, you could be disappointed if you have your heart set on evening picnics in the sunshine, but the wood faces east and is in the shade all afternoon. The map will also tell you the altitude of the wood; this, along with aspect and exposure, will give you an idea of the risk of windblow (see Chapter 4 for more on windblow).
There are other things you can find out by looking at a map. Is the wood isolated in farmland or is it part of a more extensive woodland network? Is there anything of interest marked on the map within the wood? Is there a working quarry next door or other potentially noisy neighbours? There is a wide variety of features that a map can give you clues about before you make your first site visit. These can either put you right off the wood straight away, or give you further encouragement to visit. They can include old buildings, earthworks, rights of way, tracks, ponds, wayleaves (including pylons), industrial works and so on.
Second – Visit the Wood
Even if on paper the wood looks ideal, it really makes sense to visit it. This sounds like an obvious piece of advice, but you’d be surprised! There is no substitute for getting the ‘feel’ of a place. Your first impressions will be invaluable and you can gather some basic information in a very short time. Is there a shrub layer? What is the age range of the trees and is there any natural regeneration? Is the wood obviously going to present some challenges – is it steep, wet, rocky, down a steep, narrow lane, on top of a hill or next to the local pig farm? Perhaps you’ll fall in love with the place after a quick visit telling you all you need to know to encourage you to make an offer – wonderful bluebells, beautiful hazel coppice, the song of a nightingale or a view that you could look at forever.
Topography
The disappointment of a wood that faces the wrong way has already been mentioned, although for most people, this won’t be too important. The main impact that the land form has on the woodland is on the ability to manage it. Steep and rough ground can affect access routes – tracks and paths – especially ease of timber extraction; it can affect the likelihood of windblow; the land form and aspect can have profound effects on wildlife. A north and east-facing woodland will be cooler and damper than a south and west-facing wood, but it will also be more sheltered and less susceptible to windblow.
Windblown oak and birch.
Your wood may be an important landscape feature.
As well as the view from the wood, the topography can affect the view of the wood from the wider countryside. This is usually not a factor you need to consider in flat countryside, but in hilly areas and especially in designated landscapes like national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty, what the woodland looks like in the landscape is important. Foresters still receive criticism for the straight lines that new forestry plantations created in the 1970s, although in reality there are now very few of these remaining. A poorly designed coppice coupe or access track could become a regrettable landscape eyesore.
Access
Good access is invaluable but the level of access you need depends very much on your objectives. If you are not expecting to drive into the wood in a car, then a rough track is fine. If there is never going to be large timber to bring out of the wood, then access can be relatively simple. If, however, you are planning on coppicing and bringing out a variety of produce, basic access is extremely important. You will soon get tired of carrying bits of wood any distance – you might be able to manage this now, but in twenty years? A bundle of twenty-five freshly cut hazel rods is very heavy and, unless you are super fit, you won’t be able to carry it very far.
Proper, formal access tracks made to a good standard are expensive to create. There are shortcuts, but there will be usually be considerable costs, whether this is purchase of bought-in materials, equipment hire, payment of contractors or simply your own time. Therefore, if your wood already has access, this will save you a great deal of time and expense, and this is a key thing to look out for when searching for a wood to look after and enjoy.
Good access is critically important.
Access within a wood may be fine, but sometimes, access to the wood can be difficult. This is especially so in very rural areas and in hilly countryside, where lanes can be steep, narrow and deep. This can make getting timber away from a wood difficult and sometimes impossible. Although you can improve access within a wood, it is almost impossible to improve access to a wood.
You may not want a car park within or next to your wood, but many woodland owners will end up having to drive to their wood and so, you will need somewhere to leave your vehicle. If there is no access track, you may need to negotiate with a neighbouring land-owner, so you can leave a vehicle in a farm yard or field gateway from time to time. If you ever have friends to visit the wood, or work parties, you may need space for several vehicles.
Many woodlands have one or more public rights of way (footpaths, bridleways or byways open to all traffic – BOATs) running through them. Some people cherish their privacy and wouldn’t consider a wood with a public footpath in it; for others, this is not important. However, it is certainly the case that having the public in your wood can be an issue. The main area of concern is the security of any equipment and materials that are stored in the wood. Ideally, equipment would be stored somewhere secure, away from the woodland, but this is not always practical. People will wander off public footpaths – most people aren’t very good at map-reading – although with good waymarking and other management techniques that deter people from leaving the path, this can to an extent, be managed. Whether you have public access or not, the wood will need to be covered by public liability insurance.
Boundaries
The condition of the boundaries is important, especially in the uplands and other areas where there might be grazing livestock in adjacent fields. Sheep will eat coppice re-growth and need to be kept out of most woodland at all costs. Cows are generally less destructive and much easier to keep out. However, in just a brief period at high densities in wet weather, cows can decimate ground flora with their heavy weight.
Historically and legally, a famer is obliged to keep livestock in his or her own fields – it is not up to a woodland owner to keep someone else’s livestock out of his wood. However, through a subtle change in countryside ‘lore’, you will often hear this repeated the other way around! A common phrase heard when discussing boundaries these days is ‘a wood fences itself’ meaning that the woodland owner is responsible for keeping livestock out. Legally, this is nonsense and you can argue this with authority. Sometimes, if a land-owner is selling a wood and retaining land surrounding it, the boundary maintenance obligations may be sold with the wood. You will need to foster a positive working relationship with your woodland neighbours, and boundary disagreements are likely to be a source of dispute unless both you and your neighbour are prepared to compromise and share costs.
You should check whether boundary maintenance is your responsibility. This fence was replaced to keep out sheep, about five years before the photo was taken.
Boundary marks – if the T is facing into the wood, the boundary is yours; if it faces onto adjoining land, the responsibility for boundary up-keep is your neighbour’s.
DECIDE ON YOUR OBJECTIVES
We will assume that, as you have picked up this book, your main aim is to find a woodland in which to carry out some coppicing. You need to decide what you want to do with your wood and what you want your wood to do for you. So, before you launch into purchasing, leasing or entering into a management agreement, identify whether coppicing is both possible and desirable.
Historical Precedence
Woods that don’t have a history of coppicing are unlikely to make successful coppices now, without a lot of work. The main exception to this rule of thumb is for some recently planted woods.
Ideally then, for your prospective wood to work as coppice, it will show signs of past coppicing. This means finding lots of multi-stemmed trees. Sometimes evidence on the ground can be supported by looking at early edition Ordnance Survey maps that actually carry a mark that signifies coppice. Seeing multi-stemmed hazel, however, is not necessarily a sign of coppicing. Hazel naturally grows with multiple stems. Even in the furthest reaches of the most remote wooded gorge you could possibly imagine, hazel produces multiple stems and appears to have been coppiced; this is its natural growth habit and is not necessarily a sign of past human activity.
If you can find other multi-stemmed trees, they should ideally, not be older than about fifty years. The longer a coppice stool remains uncut, the less likely it is that it will survive being coppiced again. This is particularly the case for oak and birch which respond poorly if not coppiced for several decades. Better results are obtained with older hazel, ash, sweet chestnut, field maple and alder, for example. If the coppice stools are a long way apart, in order to get a productive, working coppice, new stools will need to be established in the gaps. This obviously creates work and expense that you may not want; conversely, it could give you the opportunity to influence the composition of the wood and give you more of the coppice species you want.
High forest broad-leaved woodland with virtually no potential for coppice.
There are some other tell-tale signs that a wood might have been coppiced in its past. In some areas, there are the remains of woodland industries that depended on coppicing, and these can still be identified today. The presence of charcoal-burning hearths or platforms (known as ‘pitsteads’ in some places) is perhaps one of the best known and most widespread, especially in areas where charcoal was needed as a fuel for smelting iron ore; for example, the Lake District, the Forest of Dean, the Weald and the woods around Sheffield and Telford. These platforms were in use mainly between 1700 and 1900, although for most, their life was much shorter, and some were probably only used for making charcoal on a handful of occasions. However, the charcoal was mainly made from coppiced material and so their presence is a good indicator that the wood in which they are located was coppiced in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
