From Field To Woodland

 I was having a pleasant lake swim with a nice chap I know the other day. Among the many interesting things we chatted about, he told me about his bee keeping.  Many years ago I went to "bee school" for the day. An intro to bee keeping course that was held in a local village. It was fascinating, and like most things, there was more to it than I imagined. Given the positive environmental impact of bee hives and the prospect of limitless amounts of honey, I resolved that one day I would have some bees. Sadly, a nervous wife, concerned about the impact on our neighbours, meant that the project stalled.  The chat with my friend re-ignited my enthusiasm though, and now that I had a perfect location, and a location that would be enhanced by the arrival of the stripy beasties, I had to act.  I am a busy chap and I also like to go away a lot, so the idea of starting yet another hobby wasn't tempting. It meant ruling out going it alone. I knew from my earlier conversation tha...

 It was always the intention for the public to enjoy the woodland , and to some extent to enjoy its transformation. As I may have mentioned before , there is a strong financial incentive to form a charity sooner rather than later to take some tax benefits and to facilitate donations and grants. The formation of a charity would likely mean a rapid introduction of more public access and less control of things from my end. Currently I am taking the financial hit of not setting up a charity without really knowing why - it’s a gut feel thing. I think it is about control - or about not giving up control. At least not yet. It’s an expensive luxury though.  The question of what to do about access cropped up sooner than expected with news that the George Pub in Upper Denby we’re selling off their outdoor furniture cheaply as fancy new stuff was inbound for the new outdoor drinking experience that COVID forced upon pubs. £25 for a 6 person picnic bench was too good an opportunity to pas...

In many ways, open spaces are as important a part of the ecosystem that is a woodland, as the trees. Supporting wildlife and a healthy ecosystem is a key part of my project objectives. Paths and open spaces are an important part of enjoying a visit to a woodland for humans too - a second key objective. Carbon sequestration (via tree growth) is a third aim of my project. The first two objectives and the last one are a little incompatible, so balance is needed. As a result, I am trying to resist the urge to completely fill the place with as many trees as will fit. That isn’t what nature would (or will) do , so it isn’t what I am going to do.  The “artwork” at the top of the field was always designed to have paths around it , I always intended for there to be paths lower down too, I just hadn’t decided where.  Now that the trees were starting to define where the paths might be , and the grass was rapidly growing , how best to proceed? Mowing the grass can assist wildlife (to keep...

 It has been a long time happening, a long wait for activity. There was, to be honest, a bit of stress too. Would things grow? I know its a bit silly, nature likes to get on with it and doesn't need human permission to do so. You plant stuff, and generally it grows. For me though, the stakes felt pretty high. A lot of money had been spent, a lot of favours given, a lot of volunteer labour had been donated. What if the suppliers had sent poor trees? What if those roots really had dried out before we planted? What if the icy ground and the snow had frost damaged the roots? What if the field was too windy and exposed? What if? What if?  It was like being an expectant father of 450 tree babies. Excitement and worry in equal measure. I was literally asking them to hurry up and get on with it whenever I visited.  And then stuff started to happen.  The daffs came first and we had some sense of spring, though a rather cold one.  There were a few snowdrops too. But techn...