Courses
There are many courses that might interest the ‘woodlander’, so those listed below are just a small collection of those available. It is worth keeping an eye on websites such Woodnet (http://www.woodnet.org.uk/woodlots/courses-and-training ) who offer a number of courses on chainsaw maintenance, felling, charcoal making etc, The Small Woodland Owners Group (http://www.swog.org.uk/ ) and The Small Woods Association Magazine.
Don’t forget that Woodlands.co.uk now offers £300 towards the cost of courses as part of its new woodland owner package – further details are available at http://www.woodlands.co.uk/buying-a-wood/free-woodland-courses-for-buyers.php . If you have been on a course that you enjoyed, why not add a recommendation in the box below on this page?
The Sustainability Centre is there to offer information and help with ‘renewable energy, bushcraft skills, kids’ crafts, sustainable forestry, permaculture’. It offers a variety of courses from green wood working, clay oven building, soap making, applied renewables (heat pumps, solar and wind) – for full details visit their web site http://www.sustainability-centre.org/courses_adult.php
The Centre for Alternative Technology has been around since 1973 offering information and courses. It is based in the Llwyngwern slate quarry near Machynlleth. If you visit them, you can easily spent a day looking around the site and have a meal at the Quarry Café, and visit the quarry shop. Their courses fall into six basic categories :
- renewables,
- ecology/gardening,
- building / water,
- education/economics,
- woodlands/crafts,
- and holidays/nature.
Their course calendar is here: http://www2.cat.org.uk/shortcourses/course_calendar.php
The Field Study Council is once again running a vast range of courses from Understanding hedgerows, Woodland plants, Wildlife ponds, Trees and woodland in the British landscape, Digital imaging, Family Wildlife Discovery, Getting to know conifers. This link should give you a starting point for searching for their courses : http://www.field-studies-council.org/i_and_f/index.aspx
Like the FSC, the National Trust (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-chl.htm ) organises a diverse collection of courses in its many properties across the country – Dry Stone Walling, Bee and Honey Day, Dowsing, Felt Making, Advanced Survival Skills to mention but a few. Their courses can be accessed through their events page by selecting ‘activities, workshops and courses’ from the drop down menu -
The Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management is based in Winchester but organises courses and training across the U.K., topics include Outdoor First Aid, Working in Rivers and Streams, Botany for beginners, Invasive and non-native Plants, Using Satellite Data in GIS etc; a full list of their current courses may be found here http://www.ieem.net/workshops.asp .
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1 Comment so far
Chris
31 May, 2010
Also look at BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) who have a wide range of different courses; for example see
http://shop.btcv.org.uk/shop/level4/6/level