Many thanks to Malcolm and Joan who kindly hosted a well attended meeting at their wood in Carmathenshire.  Everyone who attended has said what  a fantastic day they had, warmed by Malcolm and Joan’s hot soup and awed by their stunning woodland. Thanks also go to Chris who sums up the day in the article…

Lyn Palmer, Historic Environment Awareness Project Officer for the Weald Forest Ridge  in conjunction with the Sussex Archaeological  Society is organising , ‘The Archaeology of Wooded Landscapes’ conference next February.

Camilla Blackburn, living landscape project officer with the Kent Wildlife Trust has secured some funding from the Southern Gas Network which will need to be spent before March 2011. Click the images below to view at full size

The south east  coppice conference report is now out.  Interesting reading for those in the industry or an interest in woodlands, not just for those in the south east, but across the whole country. Download it here.

Professor Julian Evans very kindly hosted a SWOG meeting at his own wood in Hampshire on Saturday 16th October.  As it was very much a ‘hands on’ day, about sixteen members duly turned up, suitably attired and hand tools at the ready!

This wonderful day with Colin Carpenter at the Community Tree Trust offers the opportunity to learn how to collect and plant a variety of native British tree seeds to grow your tree saplings for future planting projects.

Update 15/10/2010 There is a short video explaining the earth burn available on the High Weald AONB website. The Sussex and Surrey Coppice Group held a ‘Coppice Week’ on Ashdown Forest last month.  Coppice group members, the public and other interested parties enjoyed workshops held by some of the leading craftsmen in the country.

Forest Research’s newsletter FR News is now available, but this time it comes with a big difference. As well as the usual roundup of research highlights, they are now delivering it alongside their more in-depth newsletters on social and economic research, ecology and pathology.

Apologies first of all for the photograph! I’m sure these quality garments will prove indispensable for working in the woods and coming to those winter meets now that the weather has turned cooler.

The Bentley Woodfair went ahead on the weekend of 17th, 18th and 19th of September another dry event, though not quite as warm and sunny as it was last year.  SWOG was there as evidenced by the random pictures, (thanks Greyman, yours were the ones that came out well!).

Mathew Woodcock  from the Forestry Commission and Thames Valley Energy are putting on some free ‘woodheat solutions’ training in the next couple of months.

The Forestry Commission has released a special regional  update, following a recent discovery of Dendroctonus micans, the Great Spruce Bark Beetle, in private woodland at the western end of the Tyne Valley.