YOUR SMALL WOODLAND

[Mike k]

Hello,

Im have alway liked the idea of having a small wood for what reason i don't know why.
Now i have some funds i may decide to purchase a small woodland but the question is......what will i do with it?
Im open to ideas.

What do you do with your 2 or 3 acres of woodland?


Thanks

Mike.

[SimonFisher]

What do you do with your 2 or 3 acres of woodland?

Our list, in no particular order, includes: -

- taking a walk with the dogs then having a pub lunch
- staying over on summer weekends, cooking an evening meal and a breakfast
- felling trees as part of thinning, logging, splitting and storing for burning at home, saving £s off the gas bill
- enjoying the flora and fauna every time we're there
- re-establishing neglected coppice, planting saplings and watching it all thrive

[Mike k]

Hello Simon,
Thank you for your reply.
I take it by cooking you bbq?
I dont have a dog as they take up lots of time and im and work rather a lot. Spending some time in a wood will be help with stress releif i think.
Camping could be fun though i know nothing of woodcraft. I have a boiler at home so don't need any wood for heating.
Building a three sided shelter and a rocket heater bench sounds good for those cold days but i suppose there is some kind of law or regulation against that.

Mike.

[SimonFisher]

I take it by cooking you bbq?

We've cooked on an open fire in the past. Nowadays it's more likely to be a barbecue in the evening and a gas camping stove for breakfast time. Whatever works for you is right for you. I've even been known to fire up the generator for a few minutes to run the espresso machine

Same with 'camping' - some are happy in a hammock between the trees, others have caravans. We have big tents and we don't skimp on decent deep mattresses, pillows and duvets. We know of at least one woodland owner that has a rather nice shepherd's van with sleeping bunk and wood burning stove.

Building a three sided shelter and a rocket heater bench sounds good for those cold days but i suppose there is some kind of law or regulation against that.

I think a lot of it depends where you are, what you want to put up and whether you have any neighbours or others passing through that might tip off the local authority. Many of the owners around us seem to have had some sort of shelter for many years without any problems or interference.

[Mike k]

Hi Simon,

Im in the southeast so purchasing land is difficult to get at a fair price. £10k/acre is about average for a small plot say 3 acres. You can half that in Wales, but then i gues you know that. Whichever way i look at it; it's a lot of cash to pay only to be hit with plenty of red tape when it comes to the usage.
This is not a snap descission, iv'e wanted a peice of land for years and never had the funds.
Now its time to learn the rules...lol

[SimonFisher]

Mike,

Yes, we've often mused that our two plots totalling twenty acres in Hampshire are worth as much as half a hillside if we lived elsewhere or travelling many hours to get there was feasible. The scarcity of woodland coming on the market in the south-east keeps prices high and often means they're snapped up quickly too. Although not the reason we purchased in the first place in 2006 and 2008, they have been a good investment and would make a good return if we chose to sell.

We live about 50 miles from our woodland, a journey which takes about an hour each way. We'd love to have something closer, but living on the south-west London / Surrey border, that's a situation unlikely to be resolved.

Simon

[SimonFisher]

What do you do with your 2 or 3 acres of woodland?

Add to previous list: -

- target archery
- capturing video of noctural badger activity using a 'wildlife cam'
- birdwatching, maintaining nesting boxes for tits and owls
- photography
- sitting down taking in and enjoying the sights and sounds

[Mike k]

Thank you for chatting Simon,

The idea of carving shaping a long bow from timber felled from my own tree sounds fantastic.
Im not far from dartford bridge and will consider looking sightly further afeild for some land but its hard to judge the distance what with traffic at certain times.
I'd like to dig an underground store to keep things in to save transporting back and forth.
My girlfriend/partner is up for some camping also.
It's not about investing to make money from the land it's more about investing in some special time away from day to day life.

Mike.

[The Barrowers]

Just do it. You will find so many things to do and as many things not to do.

Sit, Listen, Relax, Dream, Stare, Ponder and Enjoy.

[SimonFisher]

It's not about investing to make money from the land it's more about investing in some special time away from day to day life.

Mike, exactly the same reason we got a wood - but the fact is that values do increase so if you decide a year or two down the line that it's not for you, you'll be unlikely to lose out.