The latest instalment of environmental archaeology and primitive technology students experiences in Riddy Wood comes courtesy of James Findlay.
The view of Riddy Wood as we approached
Dinner Time
Riddy wood sits on a
natural prehistoric border between hills and ancient fen land. This was the
perfect location for our hunter gatherer ancestors. I was on a trip here with
the archaeology and primitive skills course at Rease Heath College. Coming here
is the perfect opportunity to learn and practice skills learnt. Thousands of
years ago this area would have been brimming with useful resources. We intended
to use as many of these as we could on this trip to fully understand the
mind-set of the people of the past and enhance our skill set. We rushed to set
up camp between the trees while it was still light then cooked over the open
fire.
Home Sweet Home
The following
morning, before I had emerged from my hammock, our lecturer Pete Groom told us
our task for the day, to make an arrow using only stone tools! Riddy wood is
full of useful resources so this was not too difficult a task. We first went
out into the nearby fields and collected flint and churt. This was to be used
for knapping to make our arrow heads. Pete asked us to imagine how the
landscape would have looked thousands of years ago with hunter gatherers living
in these very fields. To fit with the idea of a prehistoric landscape I found a
knapped piece of flint that I was told would have been used as a scraper for
skinning an animal. This find really made me realise how skilled our ancestors
were in crafts almost forgotten.
We then walked the field boundaries to see what other
resources were available for collection. Being autumn the trees were drooping
with laden boughs of sloes, hawthorn berries, blackberries and apples. We
collected as much as we could to take back to our camp to make into fruit
leather.
The knapped arrow head in place.
The arrow head has now been secured with a sinew thread.
When we returned to
camp we started work on our arrows. First we had to collect a straight piece of
hazel for the shaft. This had to be done without using a metal cutting tool so
I twisted a piece off from the coppice. After that we had to strip the bark. We
had found a piece of flint perfect for the job with a semi-circular hollow with
a bevelled edge cut into the rock. It did a better job than a knife at
stripping the bark!
Next we had to knap our flint, using soft hammers made from
deer antler. You have to hit along the lines that protrude from the piece of
flint. This causes fractures to form and very sharp fragments to break off that
can be used to make tools. We continued until we had a selection to choose from
and then we selected the best to be used in our arrow. I made a composite
arrow, this means I had the main arrow head and then there are more pieces of
flint bellow that to follow into the wound causing more damage. These weapons
are brutal but effective; it just shows that the hunter gatherer world was
focused on survival without any care for suffering. I split the end of my hazel
to place the flint into the gap created. We then used sinew from deer legs to
tie the end together and secure our arrow heads. All that was then left to do
was the fletching.
This proved to be the hardest part because it was difficult
to keep all three feathers an equal distance apart. My efforts came out looking
rather poor compared to some of the other arrows but I just need practice.
And finally the fletching
Overall each arrow
turned out alright. Only using stone tools really made me realise how much we
take for granted our modern tools that make a job so much easier. Even people
who call themselves bushcrafters use pieces of modern kit that they couldn’t
manage without. This exercise drove it home to me how utterly dependant we are
on our society and the benefits it provides. True freedom can be gained by the
knowledge that you have the skills to survive if all this equipment is taken
away from us. That is why I am keen to learn all I can about the world around
us so I can know that if everything is taken away from me except my knowledge
then I would still be able to live comfortably with the knowledge of our
ancestors.
The second instalment in the student accounts of their experimental archaeology adventures in Riddy Wood;
Alex explains what they all got up to for two days;
Alex and lecturer Dr Peter Groom select flint for arrow making, Dr Groom has contributed to this blog in the past with an excellent post on experimental Archaeology.
On
the first night we had a quick first look around the wood but seeing as we
arrived late, we had to set up our camp of tarps and a couple of tents. Some
slept in hammocks but two of us slept on the woodland floor in sleeping rolls.
As
it went dark on the first night we made our way to Geoff's fire to spend the
evening cooking our dinner and chatting, it wasn't the best dinner during our
trip though.
I
woke up too early on the first morning so I warmed myself up by sawing some
logs, a fire warms you three times. Pete showed me his camp and I was a little
bit jealous that I didn't know how to read the woods to find a better spot. He
had set up his tent next to a track which lead to him getting close to a deer.
We
spent the first day in and around Riddy Wood foraging for materials to make
arrows and beads for a primitive skills exercise. We found everything we
needed, apart from deer legs needed for our fletching, and pine sap for glue to
fix our arrowheads. I could have done better on the procurement side of things
but all of the materials were there. We found flint across a freshly ploughed
farmer's field, hazel in the woodland and nearly enough feathers for everyone
(we ended up borrowing a pigeon wing from Geoff). After we sat around a slow
burning fire, putting our arrows together and firing the clay we had found in a
field to make beads, we started foraging for food to add to the food we'd
brought. Crab Apples, Haw Berries and black berries went into a make shift
fruit leather, we also made crisps from nettles found about 30 foot away from
our fire. We sat around eating for hours, which is where it becomes apparent
that there is a difference between survival and bushcraft. We were pretty much
having a feast, especially when Geoff brought us a Muntjac leg to cook on the
fire, and later on, during a hornet gunship attack, we cooked a rabbit.
On
the final morning it didn't take long to pack up camp and to check for any
litter we'd left behind before having breakfast, eggs bacon and beans. Then we
were off to Flag Fen. It's easy to see how people would have lived around the
area in the past, especially with a trip to one of the best Iron and Bronze age
sites in the country.
A couple of weeks ago I took Michael to Riddy Wood for a Father and Son overnighter, partly to make some preparations for the family Bushcraft event that we ran last week, but mainly just to spend some time together and to build the 'yoda hut' that he has been wanting to build for some time.
You remember Yoda's mud hut from Star Wars right? Well we had thought about making a very close replica using the clay that is plentiful in Riddy Wood but we decided in the end, partly in the interest of time, to make use of some of the elm logs we coppiced last October.
If you remember this elm is a bit of a conundrum for us as it can't be moved off site without being stripped of it's bark and as a lot of last seasons coppice wood was elm and we don't have time to strip all the bark right now we've got a lot of wood that isn't going to be used strait away. Elm however is a fantastic timber for construction, it's very resistant to moisture and can withstand repeated saturation and drying, so much so that it used to be used for pilings for jetties and to build lock gates.
Massive gates like these, which needed to hold back tonnes of water and last for years used to be built of elm. Picture by; Maurice Pullin [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]
So having rejected the idea of a mud hut Michael and I decided to build a cabin out of elm logs;
Making sure it's going to be long enough for Michael's bunk
Michael did a lot to help with his cabin.
It's getting taller...
...and taller.
The first bunk is in, and Michael had to double check it was strong enough.
We had to have a break at midday so Michael could prepare our lunch
Having a snack on the top bunk.
Almost full height and the ends have been neatened up.
The door went in towards the end and Michael swept out all the sawdust and offcuts.
Two bunks installed and just the roof to go ready for Michael and Lillie to spend their first night in the cabin at the family bushcraft event.
We had a great time together and really enjoyed building his cabin, it certainly isn't a model for great log cabins but it was great fun building it and Michael and Lillie loved sleeping in it last week.
An account of the recent fieldtrip to Riddy Wood made by the Reaseheath College Game Management course by one of the visiting students.
On January the 12th 2016 at 12:30pm me, my class mates and our lecturer Geoffrey Guy left Reaseheath college and set off for Cambridgeshire to the woodlands that Geoffrey and his brother Richard manage and where they run recreational deer stalking for Chinese water deer and Muntjac.
I was particularly excited on this trip because I was going to get a go at Chinese water deer stalking, this was my first time deer stalking. We arrived at the farm yard where the vehicle’s where parked for the duration of the trip. Richard arrived with the 4x4 and trailer to transport the food and tools we had brought with us to the campsite while we walked with our rucksacks to the site, once we got to the campsite we went to where Richard had parked the 4x4 and trailer and carried the tools and food to the campsite. We then began to set out our bedding under the shelter that was provided, after a meal of pasta cooked on the camp fire we retired to bed.
cThe next day me and my class mates woke up early to a cold morning, once we all had woken up we decided to go to top camp and have breakfast, boiled eggs and bacon was on the menu, good eating ready for a good days work
'Top Camp' is the main camp at Riddy Wood where we store and process timber and teach.
'Bottom Camp' is also affectionately known as camp coppice and was the original site of our camp when we first started working in Riddy Wood.
After breakfast Geoff and my class mates went down near to the bottom camp and started to fell the trees which were to be coppiced with axes and shoot grey squirrels. Me and Richard went off to check that the zero of his rifle suited my eye, we got out of the woods and walked down the side of them. As we were walking along the woods we spotted something running in the wood with a white rump, we both suspected a roe deer as there is a handful with in the area. While walking to a suitable place to zero in the scope, I asked a range of questions to do with game keeping, woodland management, deer ecology and shooting techniques and I found the answers very insightful. As we got to the other side of the wood we spotted the roe buck running out of the wood and away from us. It may have been the same one that we later saw on the trail camera footage.
When we arrived at the destination and spotted a Chinese water deer running in the distance, Richard set up two targets, one for him to check the rifle on and one for me to practice and make any final adjustments if I needed to. Richard fired a group from prone then I went into the prone position and took three shots with the Remington 700 .243, the three shots were on target within a one inch group at 75 yards with a slight wind, not bad for the first time using a centre fire rifle. Satisfied with my level of accuracy we headed back to the others where I joined the group coppicing, felling, removing the felled tree limbs and burning the brash. Around 1:30pm we stopped for lunch were me and Richard grabbed a sandwich and drink and left to go deer stalking. On the way to the 4x4, Richard discussed shot placement with me to recap on what Geoffrey had taught me back at college, it’s always good to have a refresher. We got to the 4x4 and drove to the area where we was to stalk. On the way Richard went through the safety aspects of the stalk and the plan of action. We arrived at the destination and set off quietly walking around a field boundary, stopping now and then to take a 360 look around to see if we can see a deer. We got to a small patch of woodland and due to the wind direction decided to go around the wood anti-clockwise. As we started to go around the wood we soon spotted a Muntjac going so we snuck over to see if we could get a closer look, we couldn’t see the deer so we went to the end of the wood to an opening, snuck in and waited for 10- 15 minutes to see if we could get an opportunity to take a shot. The Muntjac wasn’t seen again so we headed out of the wood to continue as planned. We hadn’t walked 5 yards when I spotted a Chinese water deer at the other end of the field slowly walking to the edge of the field. We crouched down and following the edge of the wood we stalked the deer to the edge of the field we set up and I went into the prone position, I took off the safety, controlled my breathing and waited for a broadside shot to present it’s self. I squeezed the trigger and hit my mark, the deer went down and managed to get back up for a second the fell down again. I made the rifle safe and me and Richard headed to the deer, Richard did a little exercise with me to see if I could find the site of impact, where the animal had first been hit. Once that was done we went to the deer check it for any response by touching the eye, nothing, one good shot behind the shoulder at approx. 115-120 yards, I bagged a nice Chinese water deer buck, please with the shot and please that we will be back at camp before it got too dark we headed back.
My First Deer
Back at camp we all gathered around and Geoff gave us a gralloching and skinning demonstration. The shot had left both shoulders intact maximising the meat that could be collected but did damage the liver. We had deer rump cooked in a Dutch oven under the camp fire. Every one enjoyed the meat, it was definitely one of the nicest venison meals I’ve had. Some of us watched some trail cam footage of the deer that visit the wood during the night and then retired to bed.
"Interestingly enough one of the haunches from this animal couldn't be eaten as we found a large wound in it, at least an inch deep and partly healed but very swollen and slightly discoloured, probably caused in a fight with another Chinese Water Deer and it's fearsome canines. With wounds like that it's better safe than sorry so we had to get rid of it". Geoff
In the early hours of the next morning me and my class mates was woken up by a Muntjac barking close to camp, after which we went back to sleep for a couple of hours before waking up and going for breakfast. Porridge was up for grabs this morning. We discussed the plan of action for the half a days work we had to do before leaving to catch the buses home. We packed our bags split some wood, cleaned the remaining trees that had been felled and added the last bit of protection from the Muntjac for the coppiced trees. We packed all the gear and remaining bit of food back in the vehicles along with the venison and the Chinese water deer skin that will be tanned and turned into buck skin and left by about 1:30pm. All in all it was a good camping trip with interesting topics discussed and a very satisfying deer stalking conclusion. I will definitely think about doing it again in the future. Graeme Williams
Students from Reaseheath
College’sGame
Management course have been in Riddy
Wood this week carrying out a range of jobs and tasks which have not only
been a great help to the project but have helped them gather the data they need
for their next deer management assignment.
One of the things the students do as part of their ‘Introduction
to Deer Management’ studies is to assess the population of deer in a given area
and write a management plan accordingly. While they were in Riddy Wood they
were able to observe the damage done by deer to coppice woodland;
A hazel stool coppiced one year ago which has not been protected from browsing by deer and other pests.
These observations gave them a very rough idea of the
density of the deer population in the area and helps them set suitable
objectives in their deer management plan. They were also able to take part in
some of the coppicing and learn how to protect coppiced hazel and ash stools
from browsing by deer, hares and rabbits by ‘brashing’ over with hawthorn and
blackthorn branches.
A hazel stool coppiced at the same time as the one in the picture above but which has been protected by a screen of hawthorn brash, this one has produced stems of over seven feet in height in one year.
They also managed to erect a high seat and clear a vantage
point to help with the culling of deer around Riddy Wood.
One of the banes of the woodland manager is the introduced grey
squirrel which will strip bark from twigs and branches to line their dreys and
even ring bark trees. Not only that buy grey squirrels also aggressively
predate birds nests and are responsible for the theft of eggs and chicks from
nesting birds. The students were able to do some ‘drey poking’ whereby the
dreys of the hibernating squirrels are poked or shaken to bring down the
squirrels and the squirrels are then shot.
A Squirrel Drey By Rosser1954 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Students after a successful squirrel hunt, can you see the Chinese Water deer hanging in the background ready for dinner?
As a group they were able to answer for five squirrels over
the course of their two days in the woods.
While they were staying in Riddy Wood they were able to see
Chinese Water Deer and Reeves Muntjac and we also managed to record footage of
a range of wildlife moving around within feet of their camp site on a trail
camera. Among them this stoat which gradually moved his rabbit pray from one
woodpile to another over the course of a day and which may well be the same
stoat who’s half-finished meal of woodpecker Richard found the
other week.
Richard will be sharing more videos of the deer and other
wildlife that he has filmed in Riddy Wood recently before too long. Check out his youtube channel for some excellent wildlife videos.
The student also found a deer skull and despite the fact that it had obviously been laying in the woods for a long time they were able to identify it's species approximate age and sex, see if you can too;
One of the very first posts on the Bushcraft Education blog was about ageing deer from their teeth and if you want some clues check out that post here.
First correct answer giving species, sex and age (juvenile, young adult or old) in the comments wins a bow drill set.
I will happily tell anyone who asks why I decided to work in the conservation sector that it was to allow me to play with chainsaws, 4x4's and fire for the rest of my career. So far that plan is working out fairly well. I've got those all important felling tools and a vehicle to get me into the woods, often the fire burns through the day to help reduce the sheer quantity of brash being generated by the thinning and coppicing and, most importantly, the tranquillity that comes from being the only person in the wood (often) and all the wildlife which goes with it. Wonderful!
I have realised by now of course that it isn't all fun and games! The insects in the woods in the summer for example, are merciless. For us on the edge of the Fens its Mosquito's, I know in other places it is other species, midges perhaps, but they are ... unpleasant! It is hard work, but I can live with that, it helps me sleep at night. The safety gear makes me sweat like a woolly pig in a heatwave! - but better safe than sorry. The financial side of things is less than ideal, especially to begin with while firewood is seasoning: nothing is life is free! I'm certainly not in it for the money at present let's put it that way.
On a more serious and informative note, another facet of woodland management, and to a certain extent other conservation activities, I hadn't put too much thought into when I embarked on my chosen career path was the associated paper work. With my work in Riddy Wood, and our other woodlands too, we had to bite the bullet and look into the legal conditions of felling licences to ensure our project was all above board and correct. Here I'll try to give a brief but broad run down on felling licence legislation, how it applies to our work, why its there and the benefits to woodland management as an industry.
First it is worth stating for the record that at present we at Riddy Wood DO NOT have a felling licence. Second it is certainly worth explaining thatat present all our work is performed legally within the exemptions of felling licence conditions. The general rule is that a felling licence applies to all felling, but with exemptions. These exemptions include certain locations where permission is not required, certain situations under which a licence is not required but the relevant portion to our work currently is in regard to 1) the size of the trees we are felling and why we are felling them and 2) the quantity of trees, or more specifically the volume of timber, we fell per calender quarter.
The majority of the felling we are carrying out at present is either thinning or coppicing.
Thinning involves felling selected trees to reduce the density of trees in a given area allowing the remaining trees 'growing room' to establish and to reduce the density of the leaf canopy. When thinning, trees under 10 cm (4 inches) diameter at chest height (1.3 m above ground level) do not count towards the quarterly timber quota (more on that in a minute).
Coppicing involves felling a broad leaved tree at ground level with the intention of allowing it to regrow, allowing regrown material to be harvested from it in a regular cycle. For coppicing trees under 15 cm (6 inches) in diameter at chest height are not counted in the quota.
Another type of felling, Pollarding, is similar in principle to coppicing but trees are cut off above ground level to prevent regrowth being browsed, or eaten, by mammals such as rabbits or deer. This type of felling does not count towards the quota regardless of size. Our pollarding at present is limited but we may explore increasing the number of trees we pollard due to the heavy toll deer browsing has on regrowth in Riddy Wood.
When trees to be thinned or coppiced are above the size limits described above a total of 5 cubic meters can be felled per calender quarter (Jan - Mar, Apr - June, July - Sept, Oct - Dec) before a licence is required. Therefore when we are felling if we encounter larger trees which are planned to be felled we keep track of both diameter and height to allow us to calculate what volume of timber we have felled, ensuring we remain within the quota. At present, the woods having been unmanaged for so long, there are a some trees which are within our management plans which exceed this size, although so far not so many that we have had to delay any felling to keep within our legal limitations.
A large proportion of the larger timber we have on the ground in the wood at present actually fell down of its own accord and we have simply processed it along with the other timber. Our first few work trips to the wood after we first took on the management were taken up largely with processing fallen trees, and several more have fallen down since then. This obviously doesn't apply to felling licence conditions as it is outside of our control. As I write this Storm Barney is moving across the UK in the footsteps of Storm Abigail (I think that was her name): when I arrive in the woods next week I wouldn't be surprised to find another one or two trees have been blown over or least damaged by the high winds.
The video below is me clearing up one of the last trees to fall. Another has come down since!
Felling licences also do not apply to dead standing timber which allows us to remove some of the standing dead wood we have. We would never remove all of these trees because standing deadwood is an importance ecological resource for species living in the woods and is often in short supply in managed woodland: we plan to buck the trend in this regard by retaining plenty of deadwood, both standing and lying, for those species which utilise it.
To this point the red tape component has been fairly easy going. We simply have to be aware of the limitations within which we are working, keep track of volumes felled on applicable trees and ensure we plan our work effectively so at not to risk pushing the boundaries. The time may well come when we do need to apply for a licence because working within the exemptions will be too restricting. When this time comes we have already got the ground work in place.
For a start, a check with the local district council confirmed that no TPO's (Tree Preservation Orders) apply to any of the woodlands which we have taken on. This is good news for us because of the potential limitations placed on woodland management where these do apply. Further none of the land has any statutory protection or conservation designation (e.g. SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), NNR (National Nature Reserve) etc). Land so designated has management restrictions placed upon it to protect either species or habitat features found in or on that site. That's not to say that woodland management WOULD NOT be allowed, because it is very beneficial to a wide range of species and in fact it may even be legally REQUIRED in certain areas depending on the reason for the site designation.
We also have a general management plan in place already (you can read it here), but it needs to be updated and expanded with regards to the spatial specifics; details such as exact coup sizes and boundaries, rotation patterns etc. to make it as comprehensive as we would like it to be. This is something which is ongoing - a habitat management plan is a working document, it should not be static but dynamic allowing changes to be made even after it is 'completed'. The principles we have laid down will not change, except in very specific circumstances for carefully considered reasons, but the spatial application may be altered to suit depending on the woodlands themselves. This is one of the things which makes practical habitat management so fascinating to me, it cannot be done effectively without intimate knowledge of the area the plan is written for! Gaining that knowledge is the process which keeps me on the edge of my seat so to speak.
A habitat management plan would be essential were we to be applying for a felling licence. It would document for example details and locations of trees to be felled and why, but a felling licence goes beyond that. It is a legislative tool to protect woodlands. For example a felling licence places ongoing conditions upon the land where the felling takes place including restocking provision, timing of felling adjacent areas and others.
I am confident that our plans would be in keeping with the guidelines the Forestry Commission (who grant felling licences in England and Scotland - in Wales it is now the remit of Natural Resources Wales) having discussed them with a FC representative a few months ago. An example would be the replanting of areas where natural regrowth isn't successful - with Ash Dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus formerly known as Chalara fraxinea) already confirmed in our woods and surrounding woodland there is a very real chance that the Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) we are coppicing will die in its early stages of regrowth. If this does happen we will replant these areas with different species, probably Hazel (Corylus avellana) to ensure that tree cover is not lost. Another condition mentioned to me was relating to the proportion of the woodland to be managed in any one year: it should not be above 20% of total area; our plan involves managing perhaps 5 - 7.5% maximum of any of our woodlands in anyone one year.
We could discuss further the details of this application process but I think we have covered the basics and hopefully given you readers who may not have had similar experience a taste of what is required in managing a woodland legally. While it is red-tape, paper work, and even requires working with computers and in a office, it doesn't take away from the job satisfaction for me because it confirms that work is being carried out sensitively and appropriately and that the woodland habitat won't suffer as a result.
Richard
NB: all details on Felling Licence applications can be accessed online through the Forestry Commission website (for England) - www.forestry.gov.uk.
While we've been keeping you up to date with everything going on at The Riddy Wood Project through our blog the time has come to go solo: The Riddy Wood Project has got its own!
It's hosted on www.riddywood.co.uk along with the other project specific details. If you've not been over there yet please do go and have a look, and follow on twitter while your at it @Riddywood.
For the first few weeks we'll duplicate everything about Riddy Wood on both blogs (except this first 'Welcome to the blog' post you can see above) but after that we'll just post links on our social media platforms to overlapping information. Obviously everyone reading this will follow both anyway!
We will be running a regular bushcraft babies feature on the Bushcraft Education Blog from now on, you may have seen an earlier Bushcraft babies posts on foraging for berries or seen my articles in Bushcraft and Survival Skills Magazine on the topic of practicing bushcraft with children.
Recently my children visited me in Riddy Wood while I was doing some work and had a bit of fun and helped me out.
Michael's first experience with an axe was chopping up this rotten wood to make a dead wood pile for insects.
Lillie wasn't afraid of picking up the lesser stag beetle larvae she found.
We found an immature smooth newt.
Which Michael adopted as his pet dragon
They both decided they were lumberjacks
and helped carry some planks we made to be stacked for seasoning in the bivi.
We look forward to sharing some more 'Bushcraft Babies' experiences with you in the future.
