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Spanish forestry and woodland management in Spain

Spanish forestry and woodland management in Spain

by Angus, 25 July, 2013, 6 comments

Spain has a lot of forestry as it is a surprisingly large country, being about twice the size of Britain and only about 10% smaller than France. The tree cover is about 30% so about twice as dense as Britain's, which means the Spanish have about four times as much forestry as we do. But it is very different in both composition and in how it is managed. For a start, 80% is owned privately and where it is state owned it is almost always owned by the local community. Read more...

Very large trees …….

Very large trees …….

by Lewis, 8 March, 2013, 2 comments

‘Who or what are Hyperion, Helios and Icarus ?’ one might ask. Well, casting aside references to classical mythology, Hyperion, Helios and Icarus are trees. In fact, they are very large trees. Hyperion is the tallest known tree. It is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) that is 379 feet tall, probably 700 to 800 years old - growing in Northern California. Helios and Icarus are the second and third tallest trees. General Sherman, a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) is said to be the largest tree on Earth by volume. So are these facts collected just for entry in the Guiness Book of Records ? Well no, they are also of great interest to the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive. This organisation has been collecting samples from dozens of America’s oldest and largest redwoods and sequoias. Read more...

A 'SWOG' visit to Ferriby Wood

A ‘SWOG’ visit to Ferriby Wood

by Dan, 27 May, 2012, 0 comments

On a beautifully hot and sunny May day, Mike welcomed a group of existing and potential woodland owners to Ferriby Wood, in the Yorkshire Wolds. The purpose of the gathering was to share experiences of woodland ownership. Folks met at his clearing where a fire was burning and the kettle was on. After a cup of tea and an introductory chat, we set off on a guided tour. Mike showed us how he has been managing his woodland in the five years since he bought it, looking first at a small section of coppiced ash. He explained that he has been selling the poles to his local allotment association for use as bean poles, Read more...

French Forestry

French Forestry

by Angus, 24 May, 2012, 10 comments

French forestry - six times as big as British Forestry If you drive through France on the toll motorways ("peages") you will have seen woodlands through the car window and may have wondered how the French organise their forestry. Not only do they do things differently but they do forestry on a much larger scale than the UK. France itself is more than 2.5 times as big as Britain in area and its woodland cover is much greater. The French have 28% tree cover whereas the UK is only about 12% wooded. The effect of a larger country with denser tree cover is that the french forestry sector is over six times as large as UK forestry. You can get a feel for this larger size when you consider that one French forest alone (Foret des Landes in Aquitane near Bordeaux) is as big as 50% of all UK forestry combined. It covers 12,600 square kilometres (about 112 kilometres by 112 km) and contains vast areas of maritime pine and scots pine and is a favoured location for free-range chickens. Read more...

Greenridge - my wood.

Greenridge – my wood.

by Graham H, 17 May, 2012, 6 comments

Having been born and brought up in rural Devon and then subsequently spending a career of 50 years at sea, the prospect of retirement with all its encumbrance of zimmer frames and wheel chairs was not sitting too comfortably on my shoulders. A year into this experience, at about the time the wife stopped talking to me, and with the feeling of guilt experienced every morning of really not doing very much constructive with my life, except walk the two Springers the obligatory six miles a day along the coast outside my home - it really felt as if the rot was well and truly starting to set in. That is until one day, whilst exploring a quiet part of Northumberland, I espied a Woodlands.co.uk for sale sign. Read more...

My wood - part two

My wood – part two

by Matt Marples, 12 April, 2012, 0 comments

The second instalment to "my wood" has, like Spring, this year - sprung rather too soon. I’ve been away for most of the last week starting work on a new area of woodland in Norfolk that I hope to be able to bring to market in the early summer. So after nearly a week of absence , I hurried across the field as the light rose on Saturday morning accompanied by Stig who seemed even happier than me, tail wagging frantically in the bitter frost. Despite some savagely cold dawns, a couple of weeks of unseasonably warm weather has transformed the woodland. It has been more of a boom than a Spring bloom this year. My hornbeam is in leaf, the hawthorn is in blossom, Read more...

My Wood

My Wood

by Matt Marples, 22 March, 2012, 9 comments

Some of you may know me as I’m the Regional agent for East Anglia. I own my own wood and wanted to share with you my wood over the year. I’m often asked by owners on what commitment in terms of work a wood entails. This will depend on the woodland and your needs and aspirations. However, I thought it might be useful to give a regular update on my own woodland. I’m blessed with the best wood in the world or that’s what I think. It’s my wood. It’s called Snipes wood after one of my old dogs and it is 150 metres from my back door and surprisingly despite spending my working life in woodland - I love every moment I spend in it yet do very little work with it. First thing every morning I walk around the wood with “Stig “the dog and love seeing the sun rise as I head back for home. Read more...

Lath Wood

Lath Wood

by Robert S, 12 February, 2012, 2 comments

My wife and I decided on the purchase of a small wood a few years ago. We were able to research financial, legal and physical practicalities on-line and www.woodlands.co.uk was the most useful site in our search for a suitable wood. We visited nine or ten woods across the South of England, from Devon in the West to Kent in the East. We were looking for a wood between 3 and 6 acres up to a spend of about £40K. Some people spend as much on a car, whilst for us non-drivers - a wood is a much better, permanent investment, especially when financial products are looking risky. But we weren’t just looking for somewhere to bank money but a place of natural beauty and quietude to enjoy and preserve. Our wood had to be accessible from London by public transport but still a rural gem away from built habitation. We were ideally looking for a bluebell wood with a good mix of tree cover -- not a conifer plantation. Read more...

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