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.
English Elms in Preston Parks Coronation Garden, Brighton.
By Ulmus man (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
The English Elm (Ulmus minor) was one of the iconic trees of the British countryside until, over the last one hundred years, repeated epidemics of Dutch Elm disease (often shortened to DED) killed over sixty million British Elms. Dutch Elms disease has not been eradicated and still effects elms in the British countryside today.
The effects of Dutch Elms Disease presenting themselves in a tree in Westpoint NY.
By Ahodges7 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
Dutch Elms Disease is an infection of the fungus Ophiostoma novo-ulmi, although the earlier 1920's epidemic was caused by the related Ophiostoma ulmi. The fungus causes blockages in the trees water transport system which leads to the symptoms visible above, the wilting of leaves and death of twigs and branches and eventually spreads to the root system of the tree as well. This death of twigs and branches is known as 'flagging' and 'shepherds crooks' can also be observed where the tips of the dying twigs start to turn down. A good resource for recognising these and other symptoms of Dutch elms disease can be found here.
Dutch elms disease is spread by beetles of the genus Scolytus, or elm bark beetles,which pupate in the bark of elms, the beetles seem to prefer taller trees and require a minimum thickness of bark to breed and feed. As such younger elms can survive for a while without becoming infected as their bark is too thin to house the beetle.
The Larger European Elm Beetle Scolytus scolytus
Beetle feeding galleries
Ronnie Nijboer [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
When the second major outbreak of Dutch Elms disease struck the British Isles in the late 1960's in to the 70's laws were put in place to govern the attempted control of the disease. These laws effectively gave the right to enter land and designate trees to be destroyed to prevent the further spread of the disease but also stated that the bark from healthy trees should be destroyed by fire before the wood is transported away from the site and that wood not removed from site should also be destroyed by fire.
The original piece of legislation, the Plant Health; The Dutch Elm Disease (Local Authorities) Order 1984 is available here.
How might this effect your bushcrafting if you're making string or containers from elm bark?
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.
By N.E. Beckwith (NatGeoFound) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
I love trees and I love the woods, I've spent thousands of hours there, engaged in a variety of activities from walking to bird watching, camping to commercial felling.
I could write a modest book on the subject of felling trees and I'm sure that the forestry commission have got pamphlets, books and all sorts of training aids, even though I suspect that harvesting machines now fell a thousand trees for every one that is cut by a man with a chain saw.
My simple rules and suggestions for felling are very few and very simple:
1. If in doubt, don't!
2. Gravity always wins!
3. Death can be Fatal!
4. Get some training.
5. Get proper equipment, especially protective equipment (eyes, ears, hands, feet and legs) a wedge ( or 2), a sledge hammer and a turning bar / felling lever.
I've cut thousands of trees as a pro feller, the majority of which were in a plantation and these are often but not always, relatively simple. They are usually straight and as a consequence of being in a plantation are not encumbered with a multitude of side branches to catch up and roll the main trunk as it hits the ground or worse, that hold the main trunk way off the ground when it comes to rest, which makes for a dangerous clear up!
Compare the twisted and tangled deciduous trees in Riddy Wood .....
...with the straighter conifers in a plantation, while easier from a felling and timber perspective the plantations aren't so biodiverse.
Espresso Addict [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Exceptions of course are 'edge trees' and plantations on a substantial slope. First the edge trees which do grow side branches, often asymmetrically toward the outside world where there is plenty of light. This asymmetry of course, puts the weight on one side and tips the balance (no pun intended) toward the heavy side and whilst you can fell at 90 degrees to the weighted side, you can't go beyond that (unless you have a gale blowing in the direction you wish to fell but one hazard at the time!)
You have to have a decent hinge, strong enough to hold the falling trunk to the stump but not so strong that it resists the initiating force to get the tree moving in the desired direction.
"StateLibQld 1 89188 Two timber workers felling a tree on the Atherton Tableland, 1890-1900" by Item is held by John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons.These timber workers are starting their hinge higher up than I normally would on smaller trees but in this case they need to get above the huge buttresses on this tree to fell it neatly. This is another example of 'applied bushcraft' the skills that we would now consider recreational bushcraft are certainly being put to good effect here. Working all day with a chainsaw certainly isn't easy but this kind of massive scale felling with hand tools is in a whole other league.
This initiating force can be a push or a pull and could be from a winch or a wedge, my preference is the good old fashioned wedge as I want everything precisely in my control and literally in my hands. If there is the slightest doubt as to the way it may go, you MUST have an escape route or better still 2. These must be clear paths that you can move along at warp speed without climbing, jumping or squeezing through gaps, because if that tree snaps off it's hinge, you have no control what so ever, gravity and wind now have it 100% and that escape route can be the difference between life and death! no doubt about it! So take some time to cut a track if needs be.
The beaver takes a slightly different approach to felling than we do, it works all the way around the tree until the remaining central wood fibers no longer support the weight of the trunk and gravity takes over, we need to be a bit more predictable and controlled than that.
Now this a blog post not 'war and peace' so I'm going to keep this brief and issue the warning that my comments should not be regarded as guidance or authoritative, just an account of my experiences which may or may not be useful or relevant. As most of the non routine felling jobs are unique in so many ways, the best preparation is a detailed risk assessment and then an assessment of any and all possible scenarios. In the case of a dangerous tree with a lot of rot and / or is hollow, you could easily spend more time in the assessment phase than in the the felling itself, this is where I start:
What have you got to cut? I.e how big or bad is it
Where is it now? Relevant to tracks, structures or trees that you want to preserve.
Where do you want it to be when it drops? Ground position.
Where is the worst possible place for it to go?
Is the size, damage or weight distribution heavily influencing where it's going?
Is there enough good wood to form a hinge?
Are there any 'hang-ups' or significant fragile parts which could detach and drop during the fall or at any point in the felling process?
Is this going to need a rope assist?
Is the wood solid enough to take a wedge with any effect?
Etc, etc, etc.......
Don't let that tree go anywhere that your head hasn't been already!
That old carpentry analogy "measure twice cut once" isn't enough, you may need to measure, assess and plan a lot more times than twice and it's worth it, you need to give it to gravity on your terms and not let gravity take it from you on his, that will always end badly!
It's possible to drop a tree all the way to the ground still attached to its hinge but often not, the butt may rise dramatically in the later stages of the fall, it may also back up or swing either way, dependent on which piece of the falling tree hits the ground first.
I hope that this paints a scary picture, it's meant to. In coming months we will try to capture some of the felling in Riddy Wood as we take down some dangerous and badly neglected trees and post them on the website, watch this space and that one and that one, because the tree could arrive in any of them if it goes badly.
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.
Coppicing is a very ancient traditional method of woodland management, all hard wood trees will re-generate to a certain extent if cut and we can take advantage of this to provide us with a sustainable source of timber for a whole range of tasks. We can probably thank the longevity of our native ancient woodland to hundreds of years worth of management but now it is easy to find woodland that I would class as derelict, which has not been sympathetically managed for many years and which certainly wouldn't be productive as a commercial coppice woodland but also does not support the same level of wildlife as it might if managed properly.
A sign of unmanaged woodland, scars where trees have rotted all the way down the ground, including their roots.
Another sign of unmanaged woodland, hazel is normally coppiced on a 7-10 year rotation, this is more like 25 years of growth and certainly won't yield useful poles for walking sticks or hurdles. The problem is hazel is a relatively short lived tree and if it isn't coppiced may only live to seventy or eighty years, there are coppiced hazel 'stools' still alive that are several hundred years old.
An old hazel 'stool' that has recently been coppiced. The caut faces should be angled to allow water to run off so it doesn't pool on the stool and encourage rot.
Plenty of useful material can be harvested from each coppice stool.
Managing a woodland can be a battle and if you'r not careful your nicely coppiced stools will end up like this, this stool has been browsed by a muntjac which has left no leaves on the newly emerging shoots.
This stool was 'brashed over' protected by hawthorn branches stuck into the ground all around it to stop the deer browsing the new growth. It was coppiced at the same time as the stool in the last picture but has clearly been much more successful.
Throughout history just about every hard wood species has been coppiced at some point and each different species would have had it's unique uses, some are explained here;
Species
Normal
Habitat and Distribution
Uses
Alder
(Alnus glutinosa)
Damp
ground, wet woodland, marsh and water courses.
Durable
when wet, traditionally coppiced for charcoal and gun powder
production. The wood has also been used for sluice gates and
pipes.
Ash
(Fraxinus
excelsior)
One
of the most common trees in Britain and common throughout Europe
as well. One of the dominant canopy species in a lot of lowland UK
woodlands.
Coppiced
for firewood and charcoal, makes excellent tool handles as it is
shock resistant and very strong. It burns green due to the oil
content in the wood.
Beech
(Fagus sylvatica)
A
species of free draining chalky soils, where there is a lot of
beech there is often very little growing beneath the canopy as the
dense carpet of leaves and nut husks and the shade of the dense
canopy suppresses most other growth.
Fuel,
furniture making, tool handles, the nuts are edible and beech
trees were often planted to mark boundaries. They are now also
often used as hedge plants.
The
two British Birch species are very similar and often hybridize.
The Downy Birch is more common in Scotland but both are common in
down and heath land and are among the first tree species to
colonize grassland and scrub-land which will eventually revert to
woodland.
Birch
is one of the bushcrafters friends, the bark from these trees
makes excellent tinder but was also once used to tan leather.
Blackthorn
(Prunus spinosa),
Common Hawthorn (Cretaegus
monogyna) and
Midland Hawthorn (Cretaegus
laevigata)
All
thorny species yielding edible flowers and fruit. And commonly
planted in hedgerows.
Walking
sticks and tools, charcoal and woodwork. The wood of all these
species is incredibly hard and tough.
Elm
(Ulmus sp.)
We
have a number of elm species in the UK the English Elm, Smooth
Leaved Elm, and Wyche Elm. All have suffered to one degree or
another from Dutch Elms Disease but are now most commonly found in
hedgerows and some woodlands, there are very few large mature elms
left anywhere in the UK.
From
a bushcraft perspective the bark can be put to use as cordage and
containers. The wood is particularly touch and useful in
applications which bring it in contact with water. It has been
used to make pipes and also in turnery and woodwork.
Hazel
(Corylus
avellana)
One
of the most commonly coppices species it is found throughout the
UK in lowland areas often forming dense stools.
Thatching
spars, hurdles,
Lime
(Tilia sp.)
Common
to lowland Britain and present throughout most of the Northern
hemisphere , it is very rare to find woodland dominated by lime
today. Limes prefer moist but well drained soils.
Exceptionally
good for carving and the bark makes excellent string. Lime sprouts
strongly at the base with or without coppicing producing long
strait stems which can easily be harvested.
Oak;
Sessile (Quercus patrea) and Pendunculate or English (Quercus
robur)
These
species are superficially similar and do hybridize, they can be
distinguished by the shorter leaf stalks and long acorn stalk of
the English Oak.
Oak
was traditionally a building timber, boats, gates and beams for
building. It is also used in expensive furniture and flooring.
The
bark is used in leather tanning and the wood burns long and hot
for excellent cooking fires.
Sweet
Chestnut (Castanea
sativa)
An
introduction to the UK (probably during the Roman occupation) but
planted extensively since the 18th
Century.
The
species coppices easily and is useful for building, fencing and
green wood crafts.
Sycamore
(Acer
pseudoplatanus)
Another
introduction to the UK but common enough to be very important to
people who spend time in the UK woods.
Sycamore
can be coppiced easily and for those concerned with the spread of
a non-native species coppicing it does prevent it from setting seed.
It does produce useful wood for craft projects.
Willow
(Salix sp.)
There
are many species of willow in the UK and all favor wet habitats.
Willow
produces soft wood some of which is durable and the larger species
can be used for traditional crafts, cricket bats are traditionally
made from Willow. Willow coppice can be used to produce withies.
And for weaving and basketry.
I hope you've enjoyed this introduction to coppicing, there will be more to come on the topic of woodland management over the next few days.
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