Newbie Alert

[Dexter's Shed]

i like the idea with bees - what about neighboring woodland owners if i bought a split wood?
.

what about them

most bee keepers keep their bees even closer to neighbours, and the neighbours don't get bothered or are not even aware of it, I have two hives in the back garden, neighbours kids play within 10 mtrs and are never bothered, you'll always get the odd person who runs away screaming, but that's normally a trait that has been instilled by their parents rather than an actual reason

as another point, no one has ever been hauled before a judge because of bee stings, remember, bees are a wild insect, they are not domesticated, your a keeper not an owner.
if you wanted to go down this route, I would suggest you contact your local bee club and start learning now, even if you didn't get a woodland this year, now is the best time to start learning, you could even get a hive this year to start, always good to learn hands on, if you find you like it, and do get bees in a wood, another earner could be doing bee days/education to others, you could easily charge £25-£35 a day per person

here's my start with 4 hives

http://youtu.be/Bv_ptdP2F_k

and heres a closer view of one of them, I'm running two rose hives and two commercial hives side by side to do a comparison on honey yield this year, the rose hive is more better for woodlands where regular visits are not always on time, if your near kent, you'd always be welcome to come and view mine when we get some warmer weather

http://youtu.be/FfUS6E-BIxo

[oldclaypaws]

As said before on other threads, its widely assumed there is no obvious realistic 'passive' root to get a steady decent annual financial return from a wood, which is why they merit various tax breaks. Timber grows slowly and may make a decent long term return, but decades after its planted- this is the classic view of forestry as an investment product. Sustainable annual logging or coppicing is hard work, time consuming, requires various tools and might yield maybe £2k a year on a small wood. If there's valuable standing timber that can be harvested, you'll pay for it in the purchase price. Any 'interactive' activities taking place in a wood can yield income, but you'll come up against planning laws and what's most critical is your own skills, business acumen and enthusiasm to see the venture through. Offering woodland based experiences to visitors such as LARP, shooting, woodland crafts, etc, is in demand but it respectfully sounds as if you are more likely to be a pupil than a master at this point. You can't just stick up a village of yurts and rent them out, Mr Planner won't like it. People who make a living from forestry tend to do so by charging 3rd parties for services such as tree surgery, hedge laying, clearing paths, etc- its sweaty, hazardous work best suited to plucky young things or rough old diehards.

If there was an obvious easy route to get a decent return from a typical small wood, we'd all be doing it and probably keeping pretty quiet about it. Many woods are neglected because there's no obvious profitable use for them, and over the years I've seen (and battled) various get rich quick schemes which insensitive owners have proposed, such as landfill sites and ski slopes.

Woods are fab places and well worth buying on several levels. Excluding monetary considerations the leisure benefits of having one are huge and this alone justifies it. They will gain in capital value, which is a better place for cash than a bank.

I'm potentially in contradiction of my own anti-capitalist ramblings, as I was very lucky to accidentally buy a wood with substantial timber value without initially costing or realising it, but to see that through is going to take a major investment and physical effort over the next 20+ years, it's not for the faint hearted and its possible the prime beneficiary will be my chiropractor.

[Wendelspanswick]

1 week booking for a large bell tent say £500
Say 6 bell tents = £3000
4 weeks a year = £12000

- cost of tents and stoves *
- liability insurance
- advertising and booking
- rental of portable shower block**

You might clear £8000.

*Either sell tents on at end of season or retain for following year.
**Use of composting toilets would mean only shower/hygene block needed.

[oldclaypaws]

That assumes a top rate fee and 100% booking.

We have a very slick set-up close to us with a Yurt, Railway Carriage and shower block. They are cheaper than that and their occupancy rate is not brilliant. You are competing with that place called 'abroad', where they have better weather and cheaper booze.

I wouldn't pay £500 for a tent when we've always been able to get a cottage in low season for about half of that. You could buy a tent for £100 and pitch it for £10 a night = £170 for the first week, £70 next week.

Methinks a tad optimistic unless you know different.

[Wendelspanswick]

if you are only letting your wood out for 4 weeks why would you do it in the low season?
You would be offering an exclusive location only available for 4 weeks in a year to a select few, in a large canvas bell tent, not some farmers field or a campsite off junction 22 of the M5 in an Aldi nylon special.
It's just jottings on a fag packet, not a business plan. And at the end of the day the OP was looking to generate £2000 a year.

[Wendelspanswick]

Quite chuffed to find I was not far out, from £480 a week, yurts and bell tents in Devon!
http://www.koatreecamp.com

[oldclaypaws]

Or not.

BLACKBERRY WOOD, EAST SUSSEX

With no radios and no music allowed, a chorus of birdsong provides the soundtrack to a stay in Blackberry Wood. The 20 pitches around the site are tucked away in pockets of woodland, so it feels as wild as possible in East Sussex. With the rolling South Downs on your doorstep, and zig-zagging paths to follow, ramblers and mountain bikers can discover the beauty of this recently declared National Park. Don't worry if you don't bring a bike; hire one from the camp shop. Nearby: You're only 25 minutes by car from Brighton, 15 from Lewes.

Details: Blackberry Wood (01273 890035, blackberry-wood.com) is open year round and costs £5 per tent, plus £5 per adult and £3 per child.

[Wendelspanswick]

But your missing the point OCP, you are providing a ready pitched bell tent with stove etc for people to 'glamp'.
This isn't a competition to see who can find the cheapest and most expensive camping, its an answer to the OP question on how to generate an income of £2000 plus from a wood.
I am bouncing idea's, you seem more interested in the "If I can buy baked beans for 11p, why would anyone spend 80p on a tin of baked beans" discussion!

[oldclaypaws]

Fair hypothetical point, except that nearly all glamping locations are actually on farms next to the owners property, so they can book people in, offer 'leccy hook ups (showers and hair dryers are apparently expected), clean it when they leave and keep an eye on it for safety, maintenance and security. That's certainly the case round our way and was also the case on the one you highlighted which is at Hollacombe farm in Devon, not in a stand alone wood.

You couldn't buy an isolated wood and leave loads of glamping kit there unattended if you lived at a distance. If you did you've either come back to find your Yurt had 'travelled' on its own (bearing in mind they cost a few thousand), or was full of 'gentlemen of the road' enjoying a free stay and complaining there was no loo roll left

Even if you erected the tent and took it down every time your guests arrived, they wouldn't want to leave all their kit in an unattended wood while they went off tripping during the day, the site needs to be attended all the time guests are booked in.

A simple but fundamental obstacle to the 'glamping wood' idea. Glamping Farm with woodland OK, but £1 Million budget needed.

[Dave and Verity]

I reckon Glamping is entirely a fashionable flash in the pan. I reckon that by the time anybodies decided to give it a go in their woods, it'll all be over.

Dave