This year got off to a lengthy cold and frosty start, with the disruptive (is there any other type in England?) snowfall, despite being pretty, thankfully paying only a very brief visit – here one day, gone the next. In some countries where snow doesn’t come as a major surprise in winter there are apparently up to 50 different words to describe it, but here I think ‘disruptive’ about sums it up in all its guises.
Some of my friends say that it must be lovely working outside in the summer to which I always respond, ‘you try digging holes in solid chalk and flint in 30 degrees heat and then tell me it’s lovely – I’ll take coppicing in the woods with a hard frost on the ground any time.’ And one of the best things about the start to the year is how sunny it has been – let’s hope it continues.
Chalk grassland is a rare environment, mostly confined to the NW of continental Europe and SE England, of which less than 2% remains. Environmentally it is our equivalent of a tropical rainforest. This loss coincides with the loss over the past 50 years of 97% of England’s wildflower meadows, a loss that has had a major detrimental impact upon our wildlife (60% of wildlife species are said to be decline).
Chalk grassland is exceptionally rich in plants (including many orchids – bee, man, fly, common spotted, pyramidal and fragrant) - and insects, many of which have evolved to take advantage of the wide variety of specialist plants. The nutrient-poor soil makes it difficult for any single plant species to dominate, making for a very diverse habitat – one of the richest in Western Europe. Up to 50 different plant species, including many that are found exclusively on chalk grassland, can be found in a square metre. The species-rich grassland also supports invertebrates and wildlife that are either mostly or completely confined to chalk. Chalk grassland also contains rare species of liverworts, mosses and lichens.
Another advantage of chalk is its ability to naturally filter water that subsequently requires minimal treatment, making it far cheaper of the water companies to extract and supply.
And, while at Long Hill, I was able to fulfil one of my ambitions. Anyone who has followed my facebook page will know that I love working with traditional hand tools. And having been enthused after Christmas by reading Ian Miller's 'The Scything Handbook' I was more than a little happy to get my hands on a scythe for the first time.
Despite a number of down sides (a very old scythe, woody vegetation, old stumps and lack of proper technique being chief amongst them), I did make enough progress to encourage me want to learn how to do this properly - it's not as easy as made out in the famous 'shirt off' episode of Poldark!
Against the brushcutters I was pitifully slow but at least I was having a great time, emitting little noise (other than the swish of the blade) and zero pollution.
This work will not only reintroduce a traditional coppice cycle to the overstood hazel (encouraging the hazel to throw up vigorous new growth), the opening up of the canopy will encourage the dormant woodland wildflowers to emerge, which in turn will encourage invertebrates (some butterflies, such as fritillaries will only inhabit newly coppiced areas) and thereby greatly improve the biodiversity of the woodland. Coppicing is often said to be the only activity where nature benefits from man's interaction. And the stacked woodpiles (a by-product of the work) will form valuable wildlife habitats for invertebrates, birds, small mammals and fungi.
http://theurbancountryman.weebly.com/blog/coppicing-for-woodland-management
While working in the woods I was able to achieve another of my ambitions as far as tools are concerned. I have long been wanting to get an opportunity to use a crosscut saw in anger and I was provided that opportunity. It was with great expectation that, while clearing a footpath in the woods of fallen trees, 'The Beast' was unleashed. And what a beautiful tool it is once you get a rhythm going. The metallic musical sighing as it cuts is quite mesmerising - especially when compared to the aggressive noise of a chainsaw (plus it doesn't emit any polluting fumes).
I will end with an end-of-day shot from early in the month. One of the beauties of winter is wending my way home into a glorious sunset after a hard but exceptionally rewarding day's work.