Hi everyone. I am a volunteer heritage researcher for the Woodland Trust, attached to the Ancient Woodland Restoration project in the Low Weald. It is great to be visiting various small woods in the south of England and hearing from owners about their various plans for the years ahead.
A common theme for woods in the Weald is the restoration of coppices and I have chosen as a subject for some fact sheets, coppice wood management in previous centuries. There is a lot of general material on coppicing to read but what I would love to discover is something along the lines of a woodman's diary of activities in managing his coppice wood. This could be factual, describing the activities through the year, or could include a more personal commentary on how the coppice wood changes through the year. If this were to include financial information on revenue and costs, and interaction with contractors and craftsman, that would also be of great interest.
So if anyone can point me towards any such materials for my research, preferably from the 18th century or older, I would really like to hear from you. This could be part of an estate's archives either held in county or national archives, or still held within the family.
Many thanks for any help received.
Keith
