Chestnut Coppice

Post by **mikepepler** » 29 May 2007, 19:03

Well, it's about time I gave you all an update on our woodland... We got the key to the gate a couple of weeks, and went to camp in it last week.

We've named it Chestnut Coppice, as that's what it is! It's 8 acres, and also includes some oak (maybe 40 trees?), some of which is quite mature. There's a bit of silver birch as well. It's classed as "Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland", meaning that it has had trees on it at least since 1600, and probably a lot longer, but that it has had human intervention in the form of coppicing for a long time. We saw evidence of this in live coppice stools in the wood that are clearly over 100 years old, and many older dead stumps too.

The land is gently sloping, with a steep slope at one edge. There's a small spring at one edge, though we don't yet know if it will run through the summer. It has a couple of internal tracks, and a footpath along one edge.

In terms of wildlife, we've seen rabbits and squirrels (which are pests, really), a large deer, and we've heard a woodpecker and a cuckoo, as well as various other birds. We've seen evidence of wild boar, though we haven't met them yet... We've been briefed on what to do should we meet them - back off slowly, and try to climb a tree if they chase you! - but they will probably visit the area less as we spend more time there. We've also been warned about adders, and are taking appropriate precautions.

Anyway, I've signed up to facebook, so there's a photo gallery that you can look at here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... =506696801

Any questions, please ask...

Brad · Post by **Brad** » 29 May 2007, 19:17

Mike,
Health to enjoy.

Brad

Billhook · Post by **Billhook** » 29 May 2007, 20:40

Congratulations on taking the plunge !

Many questions come to mind, starting with :

what production do you intend to achieve,

and what are your standing resources ( i.e. species, age, form, etc)

and what will you do about browsers (2 air rifles drop squirrels, but deer are more problematic).

Best of luck with it,

Bill

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 29 May 2007, 20:46

Sounds great Mike. Congratulations and all the best with your future plans.

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 29 May 2007, 20:53

Wicked, looks fantastic! I bet that's quite a feeling - camping out in your own wood! And tending to it . . . lucky people!

I bet you can't wait to meet some ramblers so you can shout at them, "get orf moi laaand!"

Where was it again . . . ? (just in case of sudden societal collapse . . .

)

Vortex · Post by **Vortex** » 29 May 2007, 21:19

Well done Mike!

Is it far from your home?

And what's the soil like?

And do you have water, electricity etc?

Our best moment on our 5 acres was when we had the site fenced and we locked the new large gate for the first time!

Post by **clv101** » 29 May 2007, 21:25

Fantastic Mike! Photos looks great, when's the PowerSwitch camp then?

Adam1 · Post by **Adam1** » 29 May 2007, 22:23

Well done Mike! Keep us posted.

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » 29 May 2007, 22:35

Brilliant Mike! I bet you both feel sooooooooo good!

Keep sharing here so we can all enjoy it.

PS. Love the name.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 30 May 2007, 01:13

Well done Mike. When are you joining the Country Landowners Association?

Pippa · Post by **Pippa** » 30 May 2007, 08:11

Feel good factor rating = very very high

What makes you feel good rating chart - plus points
digging holes - 50 points (for each one but careful you don't go mad and undermine the forest)

being immersed in a cloud of wood smoke - 50 points (this is also actually useful as it keeps mozzies away - and clean people)

Seeing cute fury animals - 50 points (all together now - arrhhhh)

Looking up and seeing the sky through a mass of leaf cover - 50 points

Knowing its mine all mine - 100 points (could be alot more

)

Minus points

Seeing an adder - -100 points

Seeing a wild boar - -100 points

Seeing a wild boar and not being within 100 yards of a tree - -200 points

Tracy P · Post by **Tracy P** » 30 May 2007, 08:36

Thanks for all you cool comments.
Pippa, minus 200 points for being bitten by an adder!

Actually, we really don't know what to do about dog walkers etc.

1. Ban them - p*** them off and then they report all we do

2. allow them within reason - a sign saying welcome, keep to paths and dogs on leads- kind of sign

3. leave it.

trouble is the land has not been worked for about 20 years or something, so some people think they 'own' it and carefully watch over it. But, they are really pleased that we will be working it, so maybe under that guise they will stop walking there.
Mike also says them seeing us showering outside might scare them off!

We want to work with, be friendly with the locals, but there is an element of 'this is ours'...... and we would like some privacy, leave tools around etc.
Any thoughts welcome!

we love it!

Tracy

Post by **mikepepler** » 30 May 2007, 08:41

Billhook wrote: what production do you intend to achieve,

and what are your standing resources ( i.e. species, age, form, etc)

and what will you do about browsers (2 air rifles drop squirrels, but deer are more problematic).

We plan to take things slowly, so we don't mess up the ecosystem, seeing as it's been there hundreds of years. The main task in the near future though will be to bring the coppice back into rotation, though we need to do some more surveying and planning first, not to mention getting felling licences. The ultimate products could include building timber, fence poles, charcoal, firewood (for stoves, not open fires), and chestnuts, of course!

The chestnut was last cut between 5 and 20+ years ago, judging by size. I expect that we would need to do a partial restocking when we cut again, as many of the stools are very old. Some of the oaks are pretty straight, but we plan to get someone with forestry experience to give us more advice on them - we think we would thin a few of them at some point, but we'd probably need help as they're huge! I'm afraid we haven't done much in the way of tree-counting yet, as the first priority has been to move the essentials down there and get set up for camping. The surveying will proceed over the summer...

In terms of browsers, we may well need to control rabbits and squirrels, and maybe deer. The problem is that our 8 acres is amongst a large wood of over 60, so control within our small patch wouldn't do much if other owners aren't doing it. Maybe we'll have to look at protection for coppice shoots, rather than killing the browsers - I've heard of some measures that can be taken, though it remains to be seen how effective they are.

We have a lot to learn, but hopefully some time to do it, especially as we aren't depending on the wood for any income at present...

Post by **mikepepler** » 30 May 2007, 08:46

Andy Hunt wrote:Wicked, looks fantastic! I bet that's quite a feeling - camping out in your own wood! And tending to it . . . lucky people!

I bet you can't wait to meet some ramblers so you can shout at them, "get orf moi laaand!"

Where was it again . . . ? (just in case of sudden societal collapse . . . )

It was really good camping there!

We met some of the locals when we visited the local church, which proved invaluable for getting to know them. They've been walking dogs on the track through our wood for years, although it is not a public footpath. We plan to put up signs along the lines of "Chestnut Coppice: visitors welcome. Please keep to the main track and keep dogs on leads". The idea being to keep on good terms with them, so we can sell them our produce! It's also good to have "responsible" people around, as they can help protect the wood from less pleasant people. However, we want them to know that it's a privilege, not a right, to walk through our wood - hence the signs we plan to put up.

Oh, and it's down near Rye. Exact location available if you PM me - I'd rather not put it on the public forum...

Post by **mikepepler** » 30 May 2007, 08:55

Vortex wrote:Is it far from your home?

Yes, but we're moving this summer. It's cheaper to rent down there, and near the sea too!

(though high enough to avoid sea level rises!)
Assuming we get to live in Rye, we'll about 4 miles from the wood, so easy cycling distance.

Vortex wrote:And what's the soil like?

Fairly sandy, with good thick leaf mulch over it. Ideal for sweet chestnut. We're yet to find out what other type of tree will do well, but we'll be going carefully when introducing new species.

Vortex wrote:And do you have water, electricity etc?

Ha! No! That's why I have my DC solar setup!

For our first trip we just took down the charged battery to use for lighting, along with the solar/wind-up radio and some wind-up torches. Cooking is all on wood - there's plenty of dead sticks around for now, while we get round to preparing and storing some firewood. On this trip we took the water we would need - it's amazing how little you can get by with (35l for 2 people for 48 hours) when there's no tap, and that allowed for washing every day too! In the longer run, we'll set up some rainwater harvesting and collect the spring water. We have the katadyn filter for drinking, but plain filtering should do for washing. Also, once we've moved down there it will be easy just to take up drinking water for the day when we go there.