Dog mess has been a long-term problem in woodlands. As dog owners have been forced to clean up after their dogs in parks and streets over the last 15 years or so they have not always been so good at "picking up" in public woodlands or on footpaths in private woodlands. This could be because dog owners don't feel a need to clear up in "the great outdoors" or it could be that some people feel they are not being watched and can "get away with" leaving the dog's doings. A more charitable view is that in woodlands people leave their dogs to roam more widely and dog mess * left without the owner seeing what has been done or indeed exactly where it was done. Read more...

Many of us who are regular visitors to the National Arboretum at Westonbirt in Gloucestershire are familiar with some of their most popular events such as ‘Treefest’ over the August Bank Holiday weekend and the spectacular autumn displays of colour in the acer groves.   This year though – acting on the recommendation of one of the catering concession holders at Treefest – my family and I decided to make a visit to Westonbirt’s festive special: An Enchanted Christmas.   Read more...

Gateposts usually last a remarkably long time - partly because strong posts are installed securely as tensioning points for fences but also because these posts need to be strong enough to support heavy gates. We have written about renovating stone gateposts before and how to get fittings attached to stone  , but there are lots of different ways of doing gateposts which demonstrate the inventiveness of farmers and estate workers. Traditionally materials used would have been whatever was available, strong and affordable, so in the days of cheap labour stone was often the obvious choice. In order to be effective a stone gatepost would have to be sunk deep into the ground and ways of attaching fences and gates were necessary. The picture here shows a relatively rare arrangement where the gatepost has holes drilled out to take the horizontal rails of the gate - these are sometimes called "heave gates" for obvious reasons. This arrangement totally avoids the need for hinges but only works where there are deep enough horizontal holes so that the gate can be moved enough to one side to release the rails from the stone gatepost at the other side. Read more...

In England and Wales people are concerned about what sort of shed you are allowed to put up in a woodland and indeed there is much planning history on the subject, but in Scotland similar questions are described as "hutting" issues.  Woodland owners need somewhere to store their tools and to shelter when it rains wherever they are. But in Scotland,  there is a distinctive history of hutting - during the interwar years (1919 to 1938),  Glaswegians wanted to spend time outside Glasgow at the weekends and for short holidays, so they arranged to build a series of huts at Carbeth and elsewhere. Read more...

Nowadays it seems we have all the map resources we could dream of at our fingertips; public libraries that stock maps back to the 16th Century, apps on our phones that tell us how to get somewhere or how long it will take us and SATNAV's that will read us directions as we drive. The availability of maps no longer seems to be an issue. These digital resources are updated constantly; drivers will keep others informed by sending in details of traffic congestion in different areas which are then passed on by a SATNAV to those headed in a similar direction. Not only are maps available, but they are consistently up to date. It seems the days of pulling over to struggle with an A-Z to find an alternate route are firmly over. Read more...

A recent visit to the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail turned out to be not one, but three truly memorable experiences.   Firstly, the 7km walk through the forest in all its early autumn colours, with spectacular, huge beeches and ancient yews was worth the admission in itself. In fact, entry is free but there is a pay & display car park and a map/guide for the trail is £1.50 – but well worth the money. The walking is easy along broad, well-maintained tracks with only the occasional slope to negotiate; although it is also possible, indeed necessary to wander off the tracks to try and discover some of the uncharted sculptures which have been deliberately left off the guide in order to encourage exploration. Read more...

Located near the western fringes of the Forest of Dean, Puzzlewood is probably the closest thing you will find to an enchanted woodland this side of a Disney animation. In fact, there are many links to the world of art and entertainment. JRR Tolkien is said to have been a frequent visitor around the time he was writing 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings'. Many believe that Puzzlewood was the inspiration for the fabled forests of those two novels. More recently the BBC has used Puzzlewood as a location for filming episodes of 'Merlin' and 'Dr Who'. Read more...

Many woodland owners get firewood from their woodland for stoves at home. Cutting the wood is important but splitting it into useable pieces can be a real challenge.  There are powerful electric machines to do it such as the hydraulic splitters (one described here) or you can split it by hand.  If you want to avoid using a traditional axe or a similar tool a good alternative is the logmatic wedge axe. With this log splitter you place the point where you want the log to split and push the handle down with an energetic thrust.  This sends a strong hammer blow Read more...