NEW OWNERS CL EARANCE Sharpe Work


When Wendy and Alan Sharpe bought woods beside their Sussex home they turned to an unusual sources of volunteer help to clear the land of bramble and rubbish


A


lan and Wendy Sharpe are Morgan sportscar enthusiasts. Alan and Wendy Sharpe have recently


acquired a neglected woodland, suffocating from elder, bramble and rubbish. The two points might appear unrelated to most people, but then most people haven't restored a 1930s two cylinder V-twin Morgan from six tea chests of bits. It all started when Alan retired


as a freelance pharmacist and the couple started looking for a new, old home they could restore and enjoy. They found one in East Sussex, near Heathfield, with 2 acres of land. The previous owner had tried selling it with 10 acres he also owned, but the price had been too high. A couple of years after buying their beautiful red brick cottage the extra land came back on the market, and Alan and Wendy were offered first refusal. "We'd warmed to the country life by then," remembers Alan, "and the land would protect our investment and give us a new interest. Twenty years ago I couldn't have imagined that I'd be pulling up weeds like I do now."


The land comprises a couple of


fields, and some ancient woodland following a stream. The wood was overgrown with bramble and elder and nettles, and had been used as a dumping ground for fertiliser bags and any old rubbish. They went to a local land agent for advice on what to do next. They decided that they didn't have the capability to keep livestock and the idea of planting a woodland was suggested. The first thing to do when they bought the land early in 2009 was to clear the areas of woodland. This is where owning a Morgan can help. "If you have a Morgan you join the Morgan car club, and the Morgan car club comes with lots of nice people attached," says Alan. They sent out word that they were planning some weekend clear-ups, for which volunteers would be paid in lunch, supper and music. The first weekend 18 helpers


arrived, and Alan soon had them at work. "It was like a WW1 campaign," he laughs. "We split them into groups, some clearing the plastic bags, others pulling up bramble, elder and nettles,


The areas of coppice are breathing once again now that they've been released from the grip of bramble. Alan has bought a bargain tractor to cope with the bramble. They had to clear tons of old fertiliser bags from the banks of the stream (below), which they've dammed to produce a pond


and a third group removing discarded ironwork and an old chickenshed. We rotated them after lunch so that they didn't get bored." Volunteers arrived for two further weekends, and Wendy and Alan now have a list of people wanting to help again in the spring. The bramble may have gone, but the bracken will be growing soon. With that in mind Alan and Wendy


have bought a tractor. They went to the Bentley Weald Woodfair in September and asked around what they should buy. "Everyone said buy a small tractor, but not secondhand. A secondhand tractor is like a secondhand MGB: never lightly used, and driven within an inch of its life!" Instead they picked up a new


Siromer 24hp, three cylinder diesel


P LANT ING NEW OWNERS


New trees Grants encourage planting of new trees


tractor with power take-off and four- wheel drive for £6000 from Curtis & Shaw in Cowbeech (curtisandshaw. co.uk, 01323 833441). It has a roll bar but no cabin: "I'm a bit of a Dan Archer when it comes to tractors," jokes Alan. "I like to feel the wind in my hair!"


When they cleared the trees Alan and Wendy found a huge old hornbeam and a vast coppiced holly. They dammed the stream to produce a pond and began thinking about the rest of the land. As members of the Woodland Trust they'd seen mention of the charity's MOREwood grants, offering funds for people to plant new trees. They emailed the Trust, and within a few days a local inspector came out to evaluate the 5 acres they wanted to plant up.


Declaring the land good enough


for trees, WT asked Alan and Wendy if there'd be public access, to which the couple said no. They asked if Alan and Wendy would do any of the planting work, to which they also answered no. Would they be


00 Smallwoods Spring 2010 www.smallwoods.org.uk www.smallwoods.org.uk


Amongst


the trees to be revealed when the bramble was cleared was this extraordinary hornbeam (above) and a giant coppiced holly (right). The holly produced vast quantities of berries last autumn which had all been stripped bare by wildlife by the Christmas


The aim of the Woodland Trust's MOREwood grant scheme is to raise the percentage of wooded land in Britain. According to the Woodland Trust, England has 11.8% wooded cover, compared with 44% for Europe as a whole. In England the Woodland Trust ask landowners to contribute financially or provide labour, or apply for FC funding. In Northern Ireland the wooded land is only 6.5%, and by working with the Forest Service's Woodland Grant scheme there, MOREwoods can plant new trees at little or no cost to the owner. MOREwoods is also available in


willing then to contribute financially? They offered £500, but upped that to £1000 to cover more of the labour costs. As a result any day now the field will be planted with 750 pedunculate oak and 250 hornbeam, which is very common in their area as it was used for firing furnaces for smelting in the past.. Alan and Wendy have plans to plant up a smaller one acre field themselves, with a wider range of local trees. They've a list of about 16 species, including wild service, alder buckthorn, crab apple, spindle tree and wild plum. "The rationale," says Alan, "is to plant trees that would naturally be growing in the area." They'll also be planting some ash, which may come in useful should they be rebuilding the body of a Morgan. Now there's synergy.


Scotland to landowners who wish to plant a minimum of 1ha, and applications will be strengthened by an offer to contribute financially. However, the Woodland Trust can help in the process of making an application to the Scottish Government Rural Development Contract for funding, and may be able to top up if that doesn't cover all the costs. In Wales, where there's only 4% wooded cover, the Woodland Trust are working with the Forestry Commission to plant new trees. According to Alan Sharpe, the


contract with the Woodland Trust (at least in England) isn't onerous. In fact they only ask that there's protection from rabbits and weeds, the Woodland Trust can have access to inspect the work, and that the trees aren't cut down in the first three years. Apparently landowners weren't interested if the contract was binding for longer than that. For more details visit www.woodlandtrust.org.uk.


Spring 2010 Smallwoods 19


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