Candlemas work camp

Tomorrow is Candlemas or the midpoint of winter, halfway between the shortest day and the spring equinox so I have arbitrarily decided to call this weekend's work camp 'Candlemas work camp'....

Right, what are we going to do this weekend? I have spoken with Stuart and we need to start coppicing in Coupe A, starting in the corner adjacent to to triangle field and top orchard. From this we are hoping to get:

• A very small amount of hazel to complete wattling in the stables.
  
• A few thick pieces could go into the stables roof to make a 'floor' for the hay to sit on although Stuart hopes to get some birch dropped for this.
  
• New poles for peas would probably be good as well.
• A lot of the coppice is too chunkey for wattling and best used by the Wood Colliers to make charcoal. This will need to be cut to lengths - we need roughly as long and as thick as a mans arm - then stacked for at least one summer to season.
  
• We can make faggots from the top and lop, but judging from the amount of deer in the area this may be better put to use making a brash dead hedge around the coppiced stools to keep the nibblers out.
• I also need a selection of poles to rebuild the Charcoal hut and to make wind breaks (see previous post) these we will store in the stable roof or cart shed until the summer.
  
• And finally any good straight rods might be dumped in the pond for use at Easter wattling the woad house.

As well as coppicing we hope to have more post and rail arrived by the weekend to complete the boundary along triangle field, plus we will need to think about making a gate at the bottom end, gate posts available in store can be dug in as well.

So quite a lot to do. If you are coming then billhooks, axes, gloves and brute force would be useful to bring.

I will update the blog post weekend to tell you all the things we didn't get around to doing!

Coppice Boundary - How stock proof is the coppice?

Below is a summary of the current condition of the boundary around the coppice. We need to make the woodland stock proof to ensure no unwanted grazers get in and wreck it. Below is a summary of the boundaries starting at the northern boundary:

• Northern boundary - This is the southern boundary of Top Orchard which is a laid hedge that is currently stock proof: sheep and horse are often in the orchard and have not escaped yet!

• Eastern boundary - This is split in to two stretches:

1. Northern stretch - This runs the length of Coup B and is part of the 'Great Wall' which needs no work to make it stock proof.
2. The Southern Stretch divides Coup D from the Industrial area and is current partly a very dilapidated dry stone wall and partly unfenced. Below is a rough sketch of what is what:

We will need to rebuild the wall and decide to either extend this wall to fill the gaps or plant a hedgerow instead. I think a wall would be best as there is a lot of tree cover and a hedge might not do well. As there are no immediate plans to graze animals in the Industrial area or the new orchard this not an urgent job. Also the north end will need a small person sized gate for the path that runs down form the Charcoal camp to the industrial area.

The Western boundary - This consists of the boundary with Square field and triangle field. I need to survey this stretch as it is a mix of dry stone wall, hedge and post and rail fence. To improve access to the Charcoal camp a field gate (i.e. one big enough to allow a LandRover/horse and cart through) will be installed in bottom south-east corner of Triangle field.