Hardwick Wood Coppicing etc

 Any Saturday through the winter months that I am free, I join a conservation party in Hardwick Wood to do a bit of coppicing (contact for details of Saturday and Sunday work parties in Cambridge area info@ccv.org.uk). I first started coppicing in 1962 at Hayley Wood so have had a bit of practise over the years. I walk up and back from the wood - about a 3 mile round trip so plenty of exercise. Coppicing is a traditional woodland management technique that dates back to the Stone Age involving cutting branches at their base to create a ‘stool’ where new shoots will grow - best suited to hazel, but can be applied to sweet chestnut, ash and lime. The original use of coppicing is still maintained in Hardwick  producing firewood and long straight poles for fencing, building and in the garden as bean poles. Coppicing is also thought to improve the biodiversity of a woodland area by opening it up to the sunlight and allowing a wider range of plants to grow. 

Here some images on my walk (including a distant Addenbrookes site!!), of the coppicing area at the start of the process and of the ancient woodland areas (with hundreds of Ash seedlings (reaction to Ash die-back?).  The tall single hazel shoots in the image will be laid into adjacent bare areas to sprout and fill the gaps in the hazel regrowth). 

Wimpole in the Mist

I took a damp misty walk round Wimpole Estate this morning - very atmospheric but difficult to photograph. I was surprised to find a primrose plant in full bloom in the midst of a lot of different fungi species (next post)

Hardwick Wood in Winter

 Due to the very thick mud on the paths, Hardwick Wood will be closed from Monday along with other Wildlife Trust woods in the area. After I had finished my usual Saturday morning coppicing session, I took a few images of the wood looking great in the winter sunshine (phone images). I love the way the trees just lie seemingly relaxed on the floor of the wood as mosses and fungi gradually cover them and eventually return them to the soil.

Toft Full-Spectrum Images from Misty Frosty Day

Taken on 30th November - one of the very cold misty mornings with the Full-Spectrum camera. Mostly very muted colours but, in the denser part of the wood, the autumn colours recorded well saturated presumably as infrared was somewhat filtered out by the canopy. Ted was a bit bewildered by the very cold conditions and is about to zoom off round in circles,

 

Hoar Frost Hardwick Wood etc

After a foggy day yesterday, the temperature fell sharply overnight and we woke to a hoar frost this morning. Here some photos on my walk up to Hardwick Wood to do some Coppicing with the Wildlife Trust.