An Idiot's guide to Ancient Woodland management

[sandspider]

Yes please!

[Stumpy Grinder]

Well that's certainly stirred up a few memories for me!

I managed the deer in this wood from about 2005 when large blocks of conifers were removed under the WIGS.

We relied completely upon natural re-generation which was not easy, as deer numbers were particularly high in the general area, and the fields to the north were unfenced allowing free movement. I put a lot of time in and hit them really hard. For a while, it just seemed to create a vacuum which was soon filled from the surrounding area. However, after several years and a lot of hard work, the numbers were down to an acceptable level. Friends of mine continued the work and the wood continues to flourish under the excellent management of TVI.

I really should get down there and have a look around as it's been a while!!

SG

[the village idiot]

3 minutes ago, Stumpy Grinder said:

Well that's certainly stirred up a few memories for me!

I managed the deer in this wood from about 2005 when large blocks of conifers were removed under the WIGS.

We relied completely upon natural re-generation which was not easy, as deer numbers were particularly high in the general area, and the fields to the north were unfenced allowing free movement. I put a lot of time in and hit them really hard. For a while, it just seemed to create a vacuum which was soon filled from the surrounding area. However, after several years and a lot of hard work, the numbers were down to an acceptable level. Friends of mine continued the work and the wood continues to flourish under the excellent management of TVI.

I really should get down there and have a look around as it's been a while!!

SG

Hi Mick,

 

Many thanks for that input. I was saving you for later when I get onto the Deer management sections.

 

Do come for a visit, the Wood has changed a bit.

 

Stumpy Grinder was walking around the Wood nearly a decade before I ever set foot in it! Did you take any pictures at the time?

[Stumpy Grinder]

1 minute ago, the village idiot said:

Hi Mick,

 

Many thanks for that input. I was saving you for later when I get onto the Deer management sections.

 

Do come for a visit, the Wood has changed a bit.

 

Stumpy Grinder was walking around the Wood nearly a decade before I ever set foot in it! Did you take any pictures at the time?

When I started mate, you couldn't see the wood for the trees!

Also before the days when we carried excellent cameras on our phones I'm afraid.

I think the last time I was there was when you'd just broken your foot! Ouch!!

 

[Mark Bolam]

39 minutes ago, the village idiot said:

Cheers Mark, that's great.

 

It feels a little self indulgent, writing all this stuff about what I do. If you guys are getting something out of it though I'll carry on.

I’m pretty sure I speak for most on here when I say we certainly are.

 

The way you write about things, the questions you raise and answer, your total honesty about your own knowledge and skill set, your willingness to call in help when needed, and the total lack of bs, politics and bickering.

 

It’s like a breath of fresh air.

 

Fair play to you and everyone involved.

[the village idiot]

CHARCOAL.

 

During my first three years at the Wood, and for a little time before I started. I was making BBQ charcoal for a handful of customers.

 

My first experiences in making charcoal were actually long before in 1998. I spent a year or two in a couple of Suffolk Woodlands making charcoal in a ring kiln for a local producer.

 

Charcoal is effectively wood heated directly or indirectly by fire, in an oxygen reduced environment, until most of the wood's constituents are burned off bar the carbon. Traditionally it was made in Woodlands by making a pile of wood, covering it with earth and setting light to it. The pile being monitored throughout the burn to maintain the desired oxygen levels.

 

Charcoal production was once the main driver for much of the woodland management that took place in the UK. When coal mining took off the charcoal industry was pretty much extinguished overnight, contributing hugely to the massive decline in Woodland work.

 

In more recent decades charcoal production in the UK has evolved a little with new contraptions, but the basic methodology is still very similar. Charcoal is now almost exclusively produced in metal kilns. There are two main types, ring kilns and retort kilns. They differ from each other in a number of important ways.

 

Ring Kilns:

 

 

A ring kiln is of very simple construction. It is a large steel ring (often 5-9 feet in diameter) with a number of venting chimneys and air inlets around the sides, topped off by a conical or occasionally flat lid.

 

The steel ring is filled with as much seasoned wood as possible, leaving a void up the middle. A fire is lit at the base of this void and allowed to take hold. After a little while the lid is placed on top and a little while later still, sealed round it's edge with sand or mud.

 

For the next few hours you get water vapour chugging out of the chimneys. After a few more hours the vapour starts to thin out and turns blueish. This tells the charcoal maker that the emissions are now largely wood gas. They will then block off all the air inlets and let the contents of the kiln 'cook'. Air regulation is key. Too much oxygen getting in will result in a kiln full of ash (most disappointing), too little air the contents will suffocate and you will not get full conversion (also most disappointing).

 

Once completely starved of oxygen the kiln is left to cool down overnight. When ambient temperature is reached the lid is lifted off, hopefully to reveal a kiln full of charcoal. The whole process can sometimes take up to two days.

 

With a ring kiln the charcoal maker has to then climb in and shovel the contents on to an external grader where the product is sifted into bags. This is a fantastically filthy job.

 

It is possible to stack one ring kiln on top of another to double the volume of wood inside. I never tried this approach.

 

In the next post I'll take you through the particulars of a retort kiln, a device that I am much more familiar with.

 

 

 

[warren]

I'm sitting here with a beer by the fire reading this ... Brilliant stuff. Long may it continue. 

[Stumpy Grinder]

Puffing Billy?

I seem to remember winning a competition to name it - the prize was a bag of charcoal!!

[the village idiot]

23 minutes ago, Mark Bolam said:

I’m pretty sure I speak for most on here when I say we certainly are.

 

The way you write about things, the questions you raise and answer, your total honesty about your own knowledge and skill set, your willingness to call in help when needed, and the total lack of bs, politics and bickering.

 

It’s like a breath of fresh air.

 

Fair play to you and everyone involved.

Thanks again Mark, I am genuinely touched, and thrilled that there is so much interest.

 

If this sort of work appeals to others, there are many many unmanaged woodlands out there crying out for some attention. If an oik like me can blag their way into them then I'm positive that many others can too.

 

You won't get super rich but you will definitely have a blast, and surely that is more important?

[the village idiot]

10 minutes ago, warren said:

I'm sitting here with a beer by the fire reading this ... Brilliant stuff. Long may it continue. 

That sounds like the perfect setting!

 

Thanks for the kind words warren.