Learn Rural Skills At Forest Workshop

Bodgers revive Sherwood's rustic traditions  

When Ian Major clocks off as a conservationist working in Sherwood Forest, he likes nothing better than to unwind by reaching for a lump of locally grown timber and re-learning the skills of the area’s once famous rustic craftspeople. Wood turning and furniture making has been in his blood for two decades.

Now together with fellow craftsman and chairmaker, Bryan Eskriett, from Clipstone, he plans to share his love for wood by helping to stage a two-day rustic stool making workshop for beginners on 31 March in the Forestry Commission’s Sherwood Pines Forest Park, near Clipstone, Notts.

Together, Ian and Bryan dub themselves 'The Jolly Bodgers of Sherwood Forest' and stress-busting is how they describe their hobby. 

But for both it’s a pastime that also touches on a longer-term vision for ancient Sherwood Forest.
“I spend my working life protecting and encouraging people to cherish Sherwood, but trees are not just for looking at,” said Ian. “We have a brilliant raw material and wood has been worked for thousands of years. It would be great to see more local craftspeople using our timber. Areas like Worksop and Ollerton were once famous chair making areas and the potential remains. Sometimes we can’t see the wood for the trees and don’t realise timber is a fantastic resource, as well as providing us with a wonderful and historic landscape.”

The pair make chairs and stools and other household items, most of which they give away or use themselves.
“We'll be teaching people how to make a stool and spurring them to be creative with the design," he adds.  "Wood, shaving horse, draw knife and mallet, together with practical advice are all you need to get started.  There’s tremendous satisfaction in making something with your own hands and taking it away to use.”

Tools, materials and refreshments will be provided and lunch on Sunday will be cooked over a camp fire. You can also spend the night in the woods with tents and sleeping bag and enjoy breakfast cooked in a wood-fired clay oven. The cost is £85, or £110 if you stay the night.

Booking is essential.  Contact Karina Thornton on 01623 821459, email  karina.thornton@forestry.gov.uk. 

Wildlife Watching - Spotting Tracks In Snow

With snow covering many parts of the UK there's an opportunity to do a bit of 'track spotting' and discover which animals have been wandering around in green areas near you.

Whilst walking the dogs this morning we spotted animal tracks in the snow for rabbit, badger, pheasant and deer, all in a fairly small area of snow-covered grass and woods on the edge of a small local nature reserve - it's fascinating stuff!

Download a guide to recognising animal prints in the snow via the Which website

or visit the BBC website to watch wildlife expert Simon King in action, tracking prints in the snow

Wildlife Watching With Wild North Discovery

From ospreys, bottle-nosed dolphins and red deer to badger watching, wildlife tracking in woodlands or watching magnificent black grouse, merlin and short-eared owls, based in the North Pennines and North West Highlands, Wild North Discovery activities are designed to get you close to wildlife.

The activities range from half a day to a full week and can be booked for two or more people.

Find out more on the Wildlife & Eco friendly holidays website Wild & Green Escapes

Free Spring Nature Factpack To Download

Despite the freezing cold temperatures and the threat of snow in many parts of the country at the moment there have been signs of spring putting in an appearnce over recent weeks - including, for many areas, an early start to Snowdrop Season.

If you'd like to discover what signs of spring to look out for then you can download a free factpack via the Nature's Calender/Woodland Trust website. The pack has information on everything from birds and shrubs to fungi and flowers.

You can download the Spring Factpack via this link:

http://www.naturescalendar.org.uk/wildlife/factfiles/spring_pack

Visit Snowdrop Valley

During Snowdrop Valley time in Exmoor National Park (4th Feb - 4th March) the Exmoor House dining room is open during the day as a tearoom. Enjoy some fabulous food before or after you've been to see the snowdrops.

More details? Call  01643 841432  or visit http://www.exmoorhouse.com/
For a thoroughly relaxing stay, with excellent food, escape to Exmoor House. Very comfortable, thoughtfully-designed rooms, a friendly welcome and great attention to detail make this a really special place (recommended by The Guardian, 101 Holidays and Lonely Planet).

Exmoor House was the first accommodation provider in Exmoor National Park to gain the Green Tourism Gold Award, in 2010.  In Exmoor's highest village, it's ideally placed for walking, cycling and exploring.

Next Instalment Of Forest Diary

Forest Diary, Keeping safe in windy woods (30/1/2012)

"We’ve had a particularly blustery start to the New Year and, with winds up to 90mph passing through the New Forest at the beginning of January, the Forestry Commission saw a number of trees uprooted or significantly damaged by the storms. Around 20 or so of these trees fell or dropped branches across some of our major roads, forest tracks and trails. We even had a perfectly healthy tree blow onto the railway line that passes through the Forest.

In order to keep our visitors as safe as possible, the Forestry Commission team is constantly out in the forest on the look out for those trees that pose most risk. Although we can’t always know which trees are likely to be damaged in strong winds, what we can do is carry out an annual Tree Safety Survey across the forest. This helps to identify any foreseeable issues with trees that have the potential to cause damage to people or property. All trees will fall eventually, at the end of their life, but what we’re looking for are trees that show signs of failing prematurely due to waterlogging, physical damage and disease.

To conduct the survey we split the New Forest into three zones; zone one includes all the trees growing along railways, major A roads, popular visitor sites and car parks; zone two encompasses less busy roads and visitor spots and finally, zone three is the wider woodland where there is minimal risk to visitors should a tree be damaged. We survey zone one every year and zone two once every five years. We don’t routinely survey zone three as the trees in these zones aren’t likely to damage life and property if they fail.

During the survey, our Recreation Rangers are responsible for checking areas that visitors commonly use such as trails and cycle routes. Our Works Supervisors will survey trees along roadsides and our Keepers have responsibility for the forest boundaries and around private properties. They’ll each log and record any potential issues that they spot and then it’s my job to collate and prioritise all of this information, drawing up a programme to get the work carried out.

We carry out the minimum amount of work to make the tree safe. However, if a tree is a potential danger to road users or visitors, we’ll prune it to eliminate any hazards and if it’s severely damaged and unlikely to uphold any harsh weather conditions, the Forestry Commission will fell it. Once felled, the wood is often put to good use – selling it to local merchants for fire wood is a common path for trees felled along the roadside.  

If the weather looks set to change again and strong winds and gales are forecast, make sure you wait until the winds die down if you’re thinking about heading out into the New Forest. Avoid sitting under or climbing on any branches that have been freshly snapped or broken and keep an eye out for any dangers. If you see a tree that has been blown over in the wind, you can report it to the Forestry Commission by calling 023 8028 3141             and we’ll make sure we get out to it as soon as it’s safe to do so.

For more information about the New Forest, visit www.forestry.gov.uk/newforest.
Richard Burke, South Walk Forester

Where To Spot Red Squirrels

New leaflet highlights Highland hotspots for red squirrels  

Fans of red squirrels can now find the best sites to see them in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands thanks to a new leaflet showing red squirrel hotspots.

From Fort William to Forres and from Contin to the Boat of Garten and Laggan, the 12 featured sites offer great opportunities to see red squirrels in the wild.

The leaflet has been produced by conservation project ‘Red Squirrels of the Highlands’, which is funded by LEADER, Forestry Commission Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Cairngorms National Park Authority.

As well as providing some information on site facilities, the leaflet includes a red squirrel fact file, as well as details of how visitors can get involved and help record the range and number of red squirrels. All the hotspots are close to car parks to enhance accessibility.

To download a copy of the leaflet visit http://www.redsquirrelsofthehighlands.co.uk/