News & Events

  • December 2014 Newsletter

    Fed up with Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers?  The SWOG newsletter has none of them, but we do wish all our members a very merry Christmas. Escape the madness and read about Dan Gould, arborist and recent convert to horse-logging Living with a log-fuelled biomass heating system Book reviews – Oliver Rackham’s The Ash…

  • European Coppice Conference 2014

    Kentish woodlands and the traditional way they are managed were the focus of an international conference hosted by the University of Greenwich. Visitors from across Europe, as well as from South Africa and Turkey took part in a three-day conference in the heartland of the British coppice industry to learn new techniques, share experiences and…

  • Irreplaceable Woodlands – Book Review

    I was delighted to get hold of a copy of Charles Flower’s Irreplaceable Woodlands. The book is a glorious reference to his 30 year custodianship of a 25 acre ancient woodland – Mapleash Copse. The title is a reminder that woodlands such as these are under threat.

  • November 2014 Newsletter

    Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness . . . time for the SWOG November newsletter. Just in time for Halloween, Rich demonstrates how to make a simple bat box, while Kerry Caldock describes her first year as a woodland owner. We also have important news about the next round of RDP grants, which are open…

  • Rural Development Grants

    The new Rural Development Programme opens in 2015 which will include a scheme to improve Farming and Forestry Productivity. This package will probably include support for: Timber harvesting, extraction and primary processing equipment (woodfuel and timber) Storage to dry woodfuel Venison processing Training Business support Co-operation, collaboration and advisory services Forestry Commission England have teamed…

  • Habitat for Bats

    Here’s a quick and easy project, ideal for kids wondering what to do with themselves at half term and ideal for bats who will no doubt appreciate their efforts!

  • October 2014 Newsletter

    Autumn is approaching and with it the season of serious work in the woods. The October newsletter features    New tree identification app from the forestry Commission    Reports from the APF show and Bentley Woodfair    Managing your woodland for climate change    Grown in Britain week 2014

  • Forest Seedlings – Forestry Commission App

    New app solves problem of identifying young trees and shrubs A new app-based field guide, Forest Seedlings, from the Forestry Commission has been launched to help identify almost 100 tree and shrub seedlings under one year old that are commonly found in British woods and forests.

  • Observatree – coming spring 2015!

    News from the Woodland Trust:  Observatree is an exciting conservation partnership project, harnessing the power of citizen science to establish a new tree health early warning system. Working together with the public, and networking with related projects, we will detect new threats and track movement and spread of existing pests and diseases.  More details on…

  • Game Management Workshop

      Matt Pitts, Woodland & Cultural Landscape Officer at the High Weald AONB has emailed us with news of a free game management workshop.  For more details and to  book a place, vist the Eventbrite page.

  • September 2014 Newsletter

    It was good to meet some of you at Westonbirt (between the showers!) and we’re looking forward to seeing even more members at Bentley on 26-28 September. Rich is polishing the rocket stoves for the tea and we will be selling new and very attractively priced SWOG polo shirts. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy…

  • Wilderness First Aid Courses

    Andy Sullivan from ELST as been in touch with dates for this years two day wilderness first aid courses.  I refreshed my first aid skills on this course last summer and actually needed to use them in a real life emergency the very week after.  So you never know when you are going to need…