Small Woods News FCE Director at SWA


Mike Bentley welcomes new FCE boss to Green Wood Centre


had a good meeting," says Small Woods Chief Executive, Mike Bentley, "discussing our values, our membership services and the practical delivery aspects of our project work." Forestry skills was a key point to discuss. "He was


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particularly keen to discuss how to address the looking skills shortage facing the woodland industry and the mobilisation of timber from under-managed woodlands. He was also interested to hear about our work in Wales through the Coed Lleol project, which is working in partnership with the health sector to capitalise on the beneficial effects of using woodlands to increase fitness and recovery rates."


Small Woods' Social Network Dedicated Tweeter to raise SWA awareness


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achel Meehan has recently been appointed to help run social media at Small Woods. "I have worked for


Small Woods for more than five years and I am really pleased to be helping spread the word of all the great work that we do," she says. Many of you will be familiar with


Facebook, Twitter and what great tools they can be (along with our website), in letting people know what we are doing and encouraging people to join the association. Small Woods has a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/smallwoods. org.uk), and a Twitter account (www. twitter.com/lovesmallwoods). As well as our website (www.smallwoods.org. uk), we have a blog (http://swaview. blogspot.co.uk). "I am sure lots of you have some great


Heartwoods wins


The Small Woods project, Heartwoods, has recently been awarded funding to run a full series of events and support in 2014. Initially Heartwoods was given a three-month extension, but now Defra have announced that the initiative, which encourages woodland management and timber production in the West Midlands, deserves another year. The first event is on 24th Jan., Managing Woodlands for Multiple Objectives. Visit www.heartwoods.org.uk or call 01952 435860.


stories, photos and news updates but just don’t have the time to shout about them," says Rachel. "That is where I can help. My aim is to keep these social media tools current and linked together so that we have a current consistent presence and a great way to keep all our supporters, sponsors and staff up to date on the great work we are all doing. If you have anything, big or small that you think would benefit from a little publicity then please let me know." The benefits of participating in social


media have gone beyond simply social sharing to building reputation and bringing in career opportunities. Call Rachel Meehan on 01952 435858 or email her at rachelmeehan@smallwoods. org.uk if you have anything to share on Facebook etc... or to discuss.


Simwood S


We have negotiated a special Members' discount on all woodland and countryside courses at the Woodland Skills Centre near Bodfari in North East Wales (see http://woodlandskillscentre.co.uk/). Have a look at the website, select a course, pay the deposit, and a discount of £5 per day will be deducted when you pay the balance.


an Gambles took the top Forestry Commission England job only nine months ago and recently made his first visit to the Small Woods national office at the Green Wood Centre. "We


News and updates for members, plus reports of events past and future


Join the Small Woods Association Small Woods aims to support and champion the management of woodlands, with sustainability, biodiversity and enhancement of heritage in mind. We are pioneers in social forestry, helping to pilot projects that benefit both woodlands and people. Call 01952 432769 or visit www.smallwoods.org.uk to join.


Upcoming Events


Except where stated, all events are free for Members and cost £5 for Members' guests. We have again arranged courses in partnership with Flora Locale. These cost £50 per day for Members and £60 for Members' guests, which represents a considerable saving on their normal charge of £100. More events are in the pipeline for later in the year. To book, complete and return the form enclosed with this Smallwoods or email philtidey@smallwoods.org.uk.


11th January, Knowlands Wood, Barcombe, Lewes, East Sussex 10.00-12.30 70-acre farm woodland, principally coppiced hornbeam, but with some oak and wildlife interest and some unusual woodland archaeology. Places are limited.


15th February, New England Wood, Cuckfield, West Sussex 10.00-12.30 New England Wood is situated near Cuckfield in the Sussex Weald on the fringe of a former deer park and has remained in the same ownership for four centuries, until purchased by a local community group for its conservation and amenity value. Places are limited.


8th March, Foxwood, Framfield, East Sussex 10.30-12.30 20-acre woodland with a varied mix of ancient and secondary woodland, old coppice & plantation in the Low Weald. Places are limited.


12th April, Brimstone Wood, Ashford, Kent Part of Benacre Wood to the west of Ashford, Brimstone is a mixed PAWS wood of 4.3ha, about half of which is Norway Spruce recently thinned using heavy horse extraction. Half the remaining wood is chestnut coppice and the remainder is a mixture of hornbeam, sweet chestnut, birch, oak and ash. Places are limited


mall Woods is a key partner in a major EU- funded project that links 28 businesses and organisations in 11 countries across


Europe. The aim of the project is to mobilise more timber and other woodland products from unmanaged woodlands through looking at owner motivations, governance (grants and laws), woodland management and harvesting. In the UK the study areas are NE England/ Yorkshire and Lochaber in Scotland, and the other UK partners are Forest Research and the Rural Development Initiative. We hope to use this project to benefit members by looking at


novel approaches to woodland management particularly in smaller woodlands. We will be holding training and consultation events in the two study areas, and we hope that Members will get involved. Phil Tidey (above) gave a presentation on Small Woods at the launch of Simwood recently in Munich. The project is co- funded by the EU 7th Framework Prog. FP7 under grant No.613762, Simwood.


Membership Survey Prize


A big thank you to all of you who took the time to complete our Membership Survey in the autumn. More than 400 Members and ex-Members replied, giving us lots of food for thought about what you think of Small Woods now and what you would like to see in the future. There’s quite a bit of number-crunching to do, so we’ll put a summary of the results in the Spring Smallwoods. The lucky person who wins a copy of Gabriel Hemery’s


New Sylva is Martin Elliot from Selsey, West Sussex. We’ll be sending him his copy as soon as it’s published in April.


04 Smallwoods New Year 2014 www.smallwoods.org.uk www.smallwoods.org.uk


10th May, Flowercroft Wood, Henley 14.00-17.00 Member Andrew Hawkins owns this beautiful 32ha woodland in the Chilterns located on rolling hills. Formerly owned by the Forestry Commission, it mainly comprises well-thinned larch and Scot’s pine with large areas of mature broadleaves and is partly a PAWS. Andrew is progressively thinning and removing the conifers, replacing them with broadleaves.


10th May, Long Wood, Ewhurst Green, East Sussex 10.00-12.30 Heather & Rodney will describe how they manage their 14 acre woodland for dormice, dormouse ecology and the National


Dormouse Monitoring Programme. Places are limited.


15th May, Woodland ground flora (Flora Locale), Flimwell, East Sussex All day. £50 for Members and £60 for Members' guests. An introductory day looking at woodland ground flora.


20th May, Woodland wildflowers (Flora Locale), Lathkill Dale, Derbys All day. £50 for Members and £60 for Members' guests. Learn what an ancient woodland is and how to identify wildflower, grass, sedge, fern and bryophyte species which are typical indicators of this habitat.


22nd May, Habitat management in new and established woods (Flora locale), Chulmleigh, North Devon All day. £50 for Members and £60 for Members' guests. A presentation and discussions on the principles of woodland management with a view to improving biodiversity.


End May (tba) Woodland flora identification and establishment (Flora Locale), Fife, Scotland All day. £50 for Members and £60 for Members' guests. Identifying woodland flora in the Forest of Falkland, and at the Woodland Trust’s Formonthills Forest, Glenrothes, with woodland wildflower introduction trials stretching back to 1998.


19th July, Berry Wood, Ashurst Wood, West Sussex 10.00-12.30 & 14.00-16.00 (afternoon optional) Coppicing with wildlife in mind. Philip Glyn will use five coppice cants, cut during each of the last five years, to show how active traditional management enhances wildlife.


6th December, Causeway Wood, Heathfield, East Sussex 10.00-12.30 Help with recognition of six commonly-found woodland archaeology features and advice on management techniques to minimise damage. Recording and submission of results to the HER can also be covered. Places are limited.


New Year 2014 Smallwoods 05


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