There’s nothing more satisfying than making something for the wood from the wood. Anything from a teaspoon to a log cabin can be fashioned from the materials you find growing or lying around.  It keeps our 21st century plastic clutter out of sight and means everything is low impact and will eventually return to where…

Most woodland owners quickly find that they generate more firewood than they know what to do with. It makes sense, environmentally and economically use it to heat your own home – and maybe that of their neighbours and friends, too.

When my mother died just before Christmas, it was a bit of a shock.  I suppose it should not have been unexpected, she was 80 and in poor health, but all the same when she succumbed to a stroke in just a matter of hours, the whole family was left with a numbness and disbelief…

Swog members joined Alex Bienfait in his beautiful and diverse woodland in Pluckley at the weekend for a meeting with the theme of small scale extraction of timber.   We are indebted to Alex not only for  his hospitality but also for  arranging a demonstration of some timber moving equipment by Keith Douglas from  the  Micro…

Katrina Podlewska, Communications Manager at the Forestry Commission has sent us details of the sculptor being built with the products of the 2000 year old lime coppice at Westonbirt Arboretum.  It looks a bit different from last time I was there, in full leaf and nearing the end of one of its 20 year coppice…

Woodlands.co.uk have created a very useful document giving advice about how to care for your woodland track.  This is  especially relevenat after the deluge of rain most of us have suffered over the last year or so.   A  printer friendly version is available for download here.

Happy Christmas to everyone, particularly to those who are suffering from the atrocious weather at the moment.  I guess all of us will be having trouble getting into the woods, but this is just an inconvenience compared to those who will have had their home flooded.

Bernie and Theresa (The Barrowers) recently had a survey of mosses and liverworts in their wood.  It was carried out by Tom Ottely from the British Bryological Society, you may have seen the recent discussion on the forum about it.   Here’s Bernies report of  an interesting aspect of our woods, which may go unnoticed. …

Tom Simmons, a Forestry Consultant from East Sussex has written to us with information about making the most of grants.  He has been helping small woodland owners maximise on the English Woodland Grant Scheme where they were otherwise unaware.

  The SWOG meeting at Hendall last month was well attended and despite the appalling weather  which was around us at the time, we somehow managed to stay reasonably dry!   A well positioned tarp and make shift Tea room proved to be in exactly the right place at the right time when the heavens opened…

Many thanks to Howard and Shirley who have sent us a nice write up and photos of their recent meeting at Clan Wood.  Look out for this article and more pictures in ‘Living Woods’ magazine.

John Sinclair from the Sussex and Surrey Coppice Group has sent us these interesting pictures of charcoal burning in Turkey.