Newbie from Yorkshire saying hello

[smojo]

Hi

This looks a great place to hang out. I am currently thinking about buying a small woodland. Been on my mind a while now but thought it was just another whim and would "go away" eventually as my wife has no interest in buying one. But she recently gave me the OK "if that's what you want to do". I have had a lifelong interest in nature, especially birds and trees and woodlands and recently got into a bit of bushcraft stuff. Even though we have a caravan and use it a lot, last year I had a solo camping trip in a small tent and enjoyed the experience of being on my own for a while and would now like to try woodland camping and practice some bushcraft skills. Problem is finding a wood I am legally allowed to camp in and feeling safe enough and away from the general public. Hence the interest in having my own. Money in the bank seems a bad investment these days so as well as it being a terrific exciting prospect it would seem like a good investment too.

I'm 62 now and although I love the idea of my own small private wood, it's a new venture and I know very little about the actual reality of owning and maintaining one. I have some doubts and I will be pretty much on my own with it as I have no friends or family members who are into this kind of thing. So before I go ahead and commit I'd like to ask a few questions and hopefully get some feedback from you folks. Thanks for reading this. I'll be asking some questions too.

[oldclaypaws]

Hello Smojo.

I've slightly behind you, being in my mid fifties and would have to say buying a wood is the best thing I've ever done. Yes owning a wood can be a lot of work, but it keeps you fit, puts you in touch with nature and the great outdoors, and is immensely satisfying.

As a pal of mine said, "What's to lose? You get pleasure from it, get free fuel, only need do as much as you want, its a great place to hang out, and if you eventually find its too much, you can sell it and will probably get more than you paid for it"

My advice would be get one a sensible not too large size and as near to home as possible. Presumably you are approaching retirement and if it was within a few miles, you'd be able to go every day as I do. Its great !

BTW, I have 2 good friends nearby who own 48 acres on a steep slope as a private nature reserve, and they are both in their mid 60's. It must keep you young!

You could start by looking at the 'rightmove' property website, putting in your location, choosing 'land' under say £80,000 (Thats below the cost of most building plots at £100k and will hence largely list agricultural plots), and chose a radius from your home. Its surprising what comes up, thats how I was alerted to mine coming up at auction locally.

Good luck

[oldclaypaws]

I should add that attractive small woodlands are highly sought after, there will be others looking too. They aren't sitting there unsold for years, you need to be 'primed' and ready with the funds in place. It took me about 4 years to find the right wood, with offers unsuccessful on about 4 others. Got the right one in the end though, it was worth waiting for ! Coniferous are cheaper, as are ones with access or drainage problems. If you want a nice deciduous with no problems the benchmark seems to be around £10k / acre, more if a pretty location. (and put a track in and caravan on, seems to bump them up another £20k!)

[Dexter's Shed]

Hi smojo, having just returned from a two day trip to knaresborough, north Yorkshire, I can say we saw a couple of the woodland.co.uk signs along the A1M, one at plumpton rocks, and another nearing Peterborough.
my wife thought I was mad too, but attitudes change, if anything she is the one who wants to get away to the woods (we dragged a caravan in)
and its amazing, how you think you don't know anyone who would help, get yourself a facebook page, and keep it updated on your plans, pictures of woods visited etc,

when we bought ours a year ago, it was very daunting the amount of work I thought needed doing, quoting that on my facebook page, I had offer's of help, left,right and center, one couple in particular that were distant friends, are now our number one helpers

[smojo]

Thanks again for the replies. Good advice. Had a look at Rightmove site and there are a couple on there - thanks for that. Might investigate a bit more. By the way my real name is David.