Austin Spanners

Absolutely. One can only imagine the sight and sound associated with such extreme forces.

Here's one of favourite casualties of the storm; the torsional stresses this tree suffered were huge.

Here you go Dave, here's a few of mine to be going on with. In Oct '87 I was working with Surrey County Council's Countryside Service, as a forester. On that morning our foreman said we'd better go and see if there was much damage - we left the depot, near Leatherhead, and managed to go a few hundred yards along the A246 (third & fourth pics) and were met by a wall of prone beech trees. It would be a full day before we managed to cut our way through and open the road - to a single lane. Close to our depot was one of our countryside sites called The Sheepleas which before the storm, was famed for its beech woodlands and meadows. As you can see from the first two shots, there wasn't much left of the beech woodland; with a 70% canopy loss across the entire site. (Coincidentally, I would later become the ranger for the site and manage it for 20 years; giving me the great privilege to be able watch the 'cleared' areas recolonise and change.) What was particularly interesting, following on from the main article, was that 90% of the veteran trees survived. The reason for this was clear; much like most of Surrey before WW1, The Sheepleas had been actively managed - as an area for sheep grazing and most of the woodland as coppice with standards. But the majority of the site was open grazing land with a few open grown trees dotted throughout and marking boundaries. But at some point in the early part of the 20th C the men and sheep stopped being active on the site and a large swathe of secondary woodland developed, as it did across much of the arable lane, heathland and grasslands of Surrey. It was this secondary woodland at this site and across the county, which was hammered the hardest. Obviously many veteran trees were hit and damaged by falling, neighbouring trees and some of these would decay and decline over the next couple of decades. At The Sheepleas, the greatest ecological event was the opening of the ground (once again) to sunlight, warmth and rain and the dormant seeds of a myriad of chalk grassland species took advantage of this and the species-rich grasslands, lost under the dark canopies of the beech, slowly began to return. This allowed for the management of a rich mosaic of habitats. I could go on and on but I'm boring myself now.

Hi, Dan is spot on about the felling licences and all the guys have mentioned very good sites for advice and help. I would also recommend speaking to your local F.C. officer. In terms of grants, if ever you think about it, your holding is too small on its own. To access grants the area needs to be above 3ha and you and the land need to be registered with the Rural Payments Agency It is possible, if you have adjacent woods or hedges and friendly neighbours, to combine parcels to get the required base-line area. But in truth most of the grants are not worth the hassle, admin and other hoops you need to jump through. As your wood is registered as ancient, it means at some point you local biological recording office (usually attached to the local wildlife trust but not exclusively) has been out and surveyed it and added it to your county's Ancient Woodland Inventory, so watch out for them snooping about. The main point with ancient woodlands, which is often overlooked, is that it is the soil that is the ancient bit; it has never been ploughed, tilled, turned to pasture or in any other means cleared of trees. Thus, the soil composition is the same as it was before man started farming. Down here in the south that usually means that difficult to farm areas or royal hunting forests were left wooded. Obviously there may be several trees in excess of 400 years but mainly composed of younger specimens. In addition, it is any archaeological features within the woodland (such as wood banks / ditches, saw pits or any other signs of early use) which must be protected from damage. Just be clear in what it is you want to do and why. Get a felling licence and ensure that you mitigate against unnecessary damage to the soil and features. I always recommend that you have a clear understanding of what you have within the woodland as the law is very clear regarding European Protected Species (EPS), which includes, but not exclusively, bats, dormice, newts, many birds and plants. So check out the list provided by FC for Scotland and your equivalent of Natural England. My final piece of advice and this is one I always use when working with asnw, is to state that you are looking to enhance the structure for biodiversity, by careful thinning, and creating and maintaining structural and light diversity within the woodland area. If possible, if your woodland is close to others, think about connectivity with hedges. These are all terms and activities that the 'bearded johnnies' like to hear and see undertaken. I could go on for ages but you're probably bored by now, so I'll leave it ther and wish you luck with it. You can always PM me for more specific advice should you require it.

The point made by The Village Idiot is the most important point. It is the soils which are irreplaceable. The most often overlooked component of the management of asnw is site monitoring. It is really important to know what the woodland contains, in terms of species, and not just the obvious and fluffy, but specifically the fungi and bryophytes. I have seen several woodlands damaged through well-intentioned but ill-thought out management. To do this well it is important to spend at least a year, through all seasons, getting to know the woodland habitat and not in isolation but in relation to adjacent habitats. So, survey and protect soils and features.

This really saddens me. Having been in conservation for over thirty years I have witnessed, first hand, how many ancient woodlands, chalk grasslands, ponds, meadows, streams, hedgerows and a plethora of other habitats have been lost to development. I, obviously, hold successive governments in contempt for their empty words regarding protection of our natural habitats but sadly, I have to say, government (national & local) and third sector conservation organisations have contributed to the rapid demise of our once diverse landscapes through their non-action. I have lost count of the workshops, meetings, consultations and strategies I have been involved with where fine words are spoken but action is thin on the ground. There are far too many people in these organisations who are willing to stand up and be counted. they are more interested, it seems, in retaining their position and status, fat pensions and reputations as conservationists. The whole business is rotten. There is an excellent video, by a bloke I admire, that says it better than I ever could. [ame] [/ame]

Hi, if it's not too late for you, I might be able to help with some larch down Guildford way.

All of the above. Got pigs in a bracken infested wood, near Guildford, been there now for 2.5 years and the bracken has gone. I have used horses with a purpose build bracken roller on heath sites and this worked well after two years of rolling. Tractors and land rover driving over sites also works well. Cutting twice per year with a clearing saw worked well in an old coppiced area. So, there you go. Whatever you can get your hands on, which suits your site. Good luck

I echo what 'Yournamehere' says. I appreciate that the use of herbicides can seem less exhaustive, easier on man power and your muscles. However, there is growing evidence to show that the long-term effect of these chemicals on the environment and wildlife is poorly understood, despite what the manufacturers state. Indeed, as somebody else stated, there will be issues with applications adjacent to watercourses. I have experience of balsam control on a river bank using cattle and sheep. The area was grazed, over a three year period, twice per year, and the balsam has all but gone. I can now pull the odd plant as I'm walking my dog. Easy! I have also seen nature reserves cleared by groups of volunteers pulling the damned stuff up - all with great results. I understand that it's not always possible to get ya hands on a bunch of cows when you need them but getting a group of mates together for a bit of pulling (hmmm) is cheaper than laying out for a load of chemicals and required equipment. What ever you choose, good luck.

Again, where about are you based?

Urgh! What dark force has brought me here?

Hi Finch get in contact with the Sussex & Surrey Coppice group (Sussex and Surrey Coppice Group | Coppicing since the last millennium) They'll be able to help. All the best

Hi wakarb, I second all that has been said, especially light. The aim of woodland management for wildlife (primarily) is to provide diversity of habitat, through the management of light and structure. If not done so already, I would strongly recommend spending a full year watching the woodland through all seasons. This is to see what lives where. See what birds are present, bats, ground mammals, butterflies and of course, fungi. All these will give you a better understanding of what is present to support these creatures. I have seen, all too often, well - intentioned management destroy some interesting habitats and colonies just through jumping in before looking. If your wood is big enough (3ha or over) and you have the inclination, you can get help from the FC to write a management plan under their EWGS, which may in turn lead you into further funding opportunities. Anyhow, good luck with it all and there's plenty of peeps here with loads of experience.