First bit of fence

Mike, Graham and Gary met up today to start planning out and erecting the first run of fencing down at Coopers Mill. It looks fantastic so far. The rest of the gang will be down at the Mill Friday to carry on with digging out of holes and erecting more posts.

Coopers Mill

The WWP were delighted when asked to produce 30 metres of traditional park pale fencing around Coopers Mill. This came about when Saul Herbert, Reserve Manager for Natural England visited Uncllys Farm to speak with John Illes, Wyre Community Land Trust and saw our demo piece of park pale fencing that flanks the entrance to our camp at Uncllys Farm, Wyre Forest.

The wood we are using to make the fence is oak and all sourced from the Wyre Forest, which of course keeps the carbon footprint of the fence to a minimum. The request from Natural England was that the fence should be made using traditional green wood working skills, to a traditional method and from locally sourced materials.

This picture shows Mike cleaving out the pales (the vertical sections of the fence)

The next picture shows Graham and Dan using wedges and a mallet to produce the rails (the horizontal sections which the pales attach to. Each rail is approximately 2.5metres long.

Below is Ian preparing the rails using a draw knife. This makes them much smoother and more pleasing to the eye. It also removes the layer of sap wood which is the layer just beneath the bark, which will rot over time if not removed.

Below shows Graham chiseling out the mortise joints that the rails will fit into.

The group took advantage of the opportunity of an overnight stay at the Mill. The Mill is actually owned by Birmingham City Council and is used by many community groups for activity days and short breaks.

These guys deserved their warm by the wood burner and a nice cuppa.

The following morning a full English breakfast and a healthy discussion on who snored the loudest last night were enjoyed by all! Then it was time to don the boots again and get back to work on preparing our fence.

Woodland Walk

As usual the masters of the camp-fire Gary and Graham had made sure that the rest of us arrived to a roaring fire. They also had some lovely news about some busy winter activity that had been going on inside our 'tree bog'.

We don't know if it is a mouse or a dormouse but whoever it is we rather liked it and of course left it undisturbed.

Due to the weather being uncertain today we had a shortened day. So after our cuppa we headed out into the woods for a walk. We work such a small area of woodland in comparison to the actual 35 acres it covers! We were soon noticing the tell tale signs of deer having been on the same trail very recently. The snow covering the ground made this easier as the little brown deposits showed up much more! Our tracking paid off dividends though when quite by accident we spotted 3 roe deer dart out from some trees and across a field in front of us. Evidently they spotted us too! so although a brief glimpse it was nonetheless beautiful. We carried on our walk but didn't manage to see them again.

Back at the campfire we had some lunch and a chat about our up-coming schedule at Coopers Mill.

Tree Felling by Axe

 It was a chilly start this morning but thankfully, on my arrival, Graham and Gary had started a welcoming campfire which we hurriedly stood around awaiting the arrival of the rest of the gang. Over a warming cuppa we discussed the day and were soon walking off into the woods to learn another new skill.

This week Chris Atkins demonstrated tree felling using an axe. The group watched as he explained the first steps, which is always your personal safety; things like your position, clearing your immediate area of debris and unusually removing gloves. Unlike a lot of greenwood working jobs, using an axe is best done glove free as your grip is much better. Chris then demonstrated which cuts you make, where and why.

We were all then able to have a go, under his close instruction, at what is possibly one of the hardest of the greenwood workers tasks.

Ian was the man to have the final swings that felled a very large tree, with Jim accurately predicting the exact site it would land. We all agreed that it was really satisfying.

We then continued with the coppicing, finishing off the stools we started last week and tackling some new ones too. Mike tried a new method of covering the stools today by making a frame of lengths of branches weaved together with thinner hazel, used to keep the deer from nibbling off the new hazel shoots.

Things are beginning to look very different in the woods now and it actually turned out to be a fresh bright day. The bluebell leaves have sprung up all over and I for one cannot wait to see them when they bloom.

Chainsaw

Dan would like to learn how to use a chainsaw one day, if he passes all his Health & Safety Assessments.

Old Friends and New

Another glorious and satisfying day today at Churchill Wood with the WWP gang. Our newest member of the gang Dan has settled in so well already it's like he's always been with us. Same goes for his great support worker Jim. Well despite the cold we all got stuck into some coppicing today. Coppicing has been used in woodlands for thousands of years. It allows light into the lower layers of the woodland canopy, which enables plants, such as wildflowers to grow; in turn these wildflowers provide food for birds, insects and mammals.

Gary and Graham very ably assisted Chris on the chainsaw and made short work of getting some massive trees to the ground - gotta love them tree fellas - get it?....tree fellers....three fellas.....Irish accent?....oh, forget it, my humour is wasted here! Anyway, the rest of us led by Mike, our trusty leader, made short work of several 'stools' - cutting back lengths of hazel, which we use for weaving and chair making and is an important part of the woodland management. This ensures that the hazel continues for centuries, as it has already in this ancient woodland. A real priviledge to be a part of.

Next week our new boy Dan has threatened us with   promised us a curry made by his own fair hands! I'll hopefully be back next week to report how well it went down. great to see him getting so stuck in. Thanks and welcome to the WWP Dan.

well before i sign out, I haven't forgotten that this post is titled 'Old Friends and New'. I've talked about our new friends Dan and Jim but wanted to also to take the opportunity to say how we miss our 'old' friends Chris and Martin and all look forward to getting them back where they belong really soon. it's their turn to make the tea you see :)

Worcester Volunteer Centre

Well despite a very cold Friday this week we still managed to have a great day, especially as we were joined once again by a group from The Worcester Volunteer Centre. The group kindly shared with us their feeling about attending the project and I'm pleased to say they were all positive! Here are a selection of some people's comments:

David - I enjoy coming because it means I'm outdoors and not stuck in a factory like in the past. I did a YTS years ago and all my skills from then I am using again.

Matt - I enjoy being outdoors in the environment. I enjoy the work and learning new things.

Gail & Penny, some of the trusty volunteer centre staff said - we have watched our volunteers grow in confidence........and commented that the WWP group are welcoming, with a friendly atmosphere and work as a team.

This week Amanda felt a little unwell so she came and sat around the campfire for some quiet time and a warm up. This was great to see her able to do this on just her second visit to the WWP. The first visit Amanda was scared to join the group circle sat round the fire and found it hard to pluck up the courage to join in anything. However by the end of that first day she had a grin from ear to ear - I said "you look like you enjoyed that Amanda" to which she replied, still grinning "It was brilliant - there's no stopping me now!"
That's we like to hear!