News & Events

  • Growing the National Forest

    In the late 1980s a group of visionaries came together with the idea of revitalising a large swathe of the Midlands that had been decimated by heavy industries. Daniel Small, Woodland Management Officer at the National Forest, looks back at how a forest was created.

  • Butterflies at Flatropers

    The White Admirals were out in force in the glorious July weather, when Alice Parfitt, Reserves Manager of the Sussex Wildlife Trust guided a group of SWOG members round Flatropers Wood Nature Reserve. She described the work that Sussex Wildlife  has carried out to encourage butterflies and birds in the woodland. Flatropers is managed by…

  • Bent to their will

    Sue and Andy Malleson needed a bit more seating in their wood, so took themselves off on a bentwood chair-making courses at Hanwell Wine Estate with John Hollins. 

  • Butterflies Flutterby

    Many thanks are owed to Martin and Marilyn Garwood of  Crow Wood, part of the Old Park Wood in Goudhurst.  They hosted a wonderful afternoon of butterfly ID and general ‘woodie’ type chat in their wood in July. 

  • Gimme Shelter – Building a Simple Woodland Shelter

    Once you’ve spent any amount of time in the woods, you’ll probably discover that you need some kind of protection from the elements.  Or as Mick Jagger once sang “If I don’t get some shelter …Oh yeah, I’m gonna fade away” . 

  • Newsletter July 2018

    July News The House of Wessex: Sylva’s Anglo-Saxon past Tree champion faces a huge task: the Department of the Environment has appointed Sir William Worsley as the new Tree Champion. New advice for monitoring and felling diseased ash Mammals on Roads survey. The People’s’ Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is running a nationwide survey of…

  • Birds and butterflies in Flatropers Wood

    Flatropers Wood, Rye, Sussex  14 July 10.30am-1.30pm A guided walk with Alice Parfitt of the Sussex Wildlife Trust through Flatropers Wood, 37 hectares of mixed woodland, rides and paths. Refreshments will be available next door in the wood of SWOG members Dominic and Wendy Eldred-Earl. Alice will discuss the successful management of Flatropers for butterflies and birds and…

  • In search of the Purple Emperor

    About 20 people met up in Cotgrave Forest to hear about managing woodlands for butterflies from Ben Driver, Southern Conservation Officer with the Notts Wildlife Trust.

  • Newsletter May 2018

    Catch up with the latest SWOG news here.

  • SWOG meeting Nottinghamshire

    Butterflies in the Midlands – SWOG meeting We are delighted to be able to run another meeting about managing woodlands for butterflies, this time in the Midlands. Thanks to owners in Cotgrave Forest and Ben Driver from the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, there will be a SWOG meeting at Cotgrave, Notts at 2pm on Saturday 23 June. Ben…

  • Sarah Walters

    We received news of the death of Sarah Walters with great sadness on 8 April.

  • Torthworth’s trees

    Tortworth Churchyard in South Gloucestershire is home to one of Britain’s most ancient sweet chestnut trees, so old in fact, that the first commemorative plaque about the tree is itself 200 years old.