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My mum has some rights of common on a piece of land near her house.

There are also rights to collect wood. Up until foot and mouth several commoners used to run sheep on the land so It was kept to grassland.

No one runs sheep on it any more. It occurred to me the other day that if it was planted out as ash coppice the commoners could benefit from free firewood.

I plan to get all the known commoners together and see if they like the idea and would chip in £20 each for planting.

There is a risk that the landowner could come along and use the wood himself, but I reckon it is a gamble worth taking..

I will update you if the idea progresses.

Sam

Oooh good luck!

Do it

Is this Forest of Dean?

I'll have a look for cabbage seeds when I get home.. just been busy getting non gardening jobs out of the way before I start planting.

Commoners only have a right to the product of the land, they don't actually own the land or have any rights to change the product of the land. Their rights are limited to those shown to belong to them in the commons register held by the local authority.

You should first check whether the common is an SSSI or similar because if you start planting on an SSSI the fines could be considerable. You should also check if your mother has rights to collect wood. It would be best to ask the land owner first as well because, if the commoners don't exercise their rights, they revert to the landowner while the commoners aren't exercising them. So if the land owner wanted to graze sheep, or let the grazing, instead of the commoners, he would be within his rights to do so.

If the common is not grazed it will revert to woodland quite quickly, probably silver birch or alder in wetter places, followed by whatever is the local woodland tree. Birch and alder both grow very quickly and make good fire wood and seeds of these will grow much quicker than anything you plant, bare rooted or potted.

Just have patience and you'll get your trees. Or scatter some seeds when no one is looking.

Ken
Commoner of Greenham Common

You should first check whether the common is an SSSI or similar because if you start planting on an SSSI the fines could be considerable.

That is a fair point and something I had considered. I think it is unlikely but it will do no harm to check.

You should also check if your mother has rights to collect wood. It would be best to ask the land owner first as well because, if the commoners don't exercise their rights, they revert to the landowner while the commoners aren't exercising them. So if the land owner wanted to graze sheep, or let the grazing, instead of the commoners, he would be within his rights to do so.

Hmm interesting, I did not know that.

If the common is not grazed it will revert to woodland quite quickly, probably silver birch or alder in wetter places, followed by whatever is the local woodland tree. Birch and alder both grow very quickly and make good fire wood and seeds of these will grow much quicker than anything you plant, bare rooted or potted.

Ash is the volunteer species, there are quite a few already. I was just planning to help the process along..

Collect some ash keys and plant them. They will take and grow much faster than whips.

kenneal wrote:Collect some ash keys and plant them. They will take and grow much faster than whips.

Why is that then ken? is it due to the whips being transplanted and having to recover?

ndon wrote:

kenneal wrote:Collect some ash keys and plant them. They will take and grow much faster than whips.

Why is that then ken? is it due to the whips being transplanted and having to recover?

That's it Brandon. The root system of a bare root whip can take years to recover from transplantation. Pot grown stuff is better if it is planted carefully and looked after. All do better if they are planted through a weed suppressant ring of some sort.

How's things anyway? Finished your thesis yet, or even the course? Gave up on my thesis and taking a PG Dip instead.

well, still not been back to do unit 6 yet, so that was November 2006 i was last there to study, it just struck me that it held little relevance to my work or forward prospects, and was becoming ever more social worker like, and rather wishy washy for my liking.

When you're working in the industry already a qualification is not so important. From your side, building, you can employ someone with the correct trade qualifications and get them to do the installation, same with the design. Your record and experience are what you rely on to get work.

From my side, the design side, the qualification gives me a bit of credibility, which adds to my experience. The course has also added to my list of contacts for work. The number of people on the course with no experience in the building industry means that if you're a building professional there are a lot of people after your services. The PG Dip will give me just that extra bit of credibility.

I can see where you are coming from, not finishing, as you are getting plenty of the sort of work that you want and parts of the course are aimed at the bureaucratic side of things. It might be worth your while just doing enough for the PG Dip. After all it's just two weeks and a bit of time for two essays! Says he not having done an essay for about three years!

and the dollars...