10 Bears

Miles, I agree with everything said above, and to be honest I fail to see how the LPA would have agreed to working the site in this manner. Can I ask, is that a semi-circular retaining wall to the right of the stem where the ridge tiles are being stored? If so, I would expect that a proportion of roots have been severed in order to build the wall and change the ground height - with the obvious potential significance to the long-term retention of the tree. Even without seeing the plans, I would expect that the builder has breached the planning conditions placed on this build - this is punishable by fines instigated from the LPA. I would strongly recommend that you ring the planning office and speak to the Tree Officer regarding this state of affairs. As the potential buyer, you would not be liable for anything at this stage as the site is still in the control of the builder, but should you not do anything, the potential situation is that in the next 5 years (or so, its impossible to put an exact timeframe on this) you could be facing a large bill for remedial works/felling of the tree, or worse still, having to clear up the mess of a large tree in the front garden that has had a failure (this is assuming several contributory factors eg root severance now, loss of tree vigour/no recovery, storm wind event with the wind coming from the exact angle needed etc.). So, in short, contact the TO, raise your concerns, make certain all planning conditions are being met on the build and have the builder be prepared to spend some money putting the situation right. Best of luck...

Whats an app?

I'm still trying to decide which is my favourite, I'm putting a lot of thought in to this and its stopping me getting on with my work. Never mind, you have to have priorities... A pal of mine introduced me to this interesting brew time procedure. Not strictly a biscuit but quite similar, and no dunking involved - but steaming instead... You need something like these caramel waffles they are available from Lidl and Aldi apparently. You sit the waffle flat on top of your hot brew and let the caramel heat up until its near dripping then go in for the kill. I tried it just the once. Far too sweet for me - I could feel the onset of type 2 diabetes with every bite. Still, I'm sure some of you would like it!

Again!

Fair enough! I do find it a little hard to decipher 'Zumerzetian dialect' on some posts, so its understandable that I was taken in...

How about donate them to a school/college/university/local library? Perhaps sell some of the best and pay for some logs? Such a waste of a resource to put them up the chimney...

Amazing player. Heard it said on the radio this morning, that if in 100 years someone put together a best of all time rugby team - the first player picked would be Jonah Lomu on the left wing. I couldn't agree more. Jonah Lomu's greatest hits: the best tries of the All Blacks legend ? video | Sport | The Guardian

I have to admit that I'm not involved in any planting this year, but have been involved with some community projects in the past and at one time planted some trees with a college group. A fair point about it not being that well known, but perhaps this is one of the benefits of AT - a good place to spread the message. My thoughts are that as the Tree Council have a close relationship to LATO's (in general) then perhaps the TO's should be doing more to promote community events in their area. Before its said, yes, I know money and LA cuts etc. will be a limiting factor, but it doesn't cost much to collect acorns, then propagate and subsequently plant out oak seedlings in a local park or similar. Also could be an activity for scouts/cubs/guides/brownies etc. Or another thought for next year Steve, an ArbTalk tree week event. Something like someone has a bit of land in need of trees or there is a particular community need, spare trees/stakes/tubes get donated from jobs, and whoever can make it travels to donate a bit of labour and partake in some laid on festivities as its leading up to Christmas! Just a thought...

Perhaps its the additional cost of hiring the chipper thats making the difference. Not to say you dont need one of course, but if you are quoting against a chipper owner who may only put £50 on the price for the chipper, then you can see how you come out more expensive every time.

Well its national tree week again shortly. More information available here: The Tree Council > Take Part > National Tree Week Is anyone involved in any interesting projects to do with this, or is this the first time you have heard of it?

Well, I have tried extensively to find a list of those who attended or sent their support - but I cannot get access to the information, short of paying for a freedom of information request. Either way, the meeting turned out to be a success and the APPG was officially formed which should only be a good thing. A bit more information on what happened is available here: http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-with-us/our-campaigns/appg-ancient-woodland/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=wt_govtaffairs_october2015

Ha thanks for the compliment! I'm working from my phone at the moment so not too easy to search for it (ie old tired eyes + small phone screen!) If no luck from the others, I will try a search later.

Interesting - I've not seen or heard of this table but wouldn't mind seeing it. Would be useful.

Its simply growth cracks in the older wood.

its 220 miles from me!

I know where it is as I passed it yesterday (roughly 10:30am, so its been there since then) - Its on a reasonably busy road too. As soon as I saw it I thought it was odd it being left there and there was obviously no crews working nearby. It's not been 're-stolen' as people around here, are just, well, all nice folk! Obviously it was nicked and dumped by someone not from round these parts....

Well, probably because the presenter was blowing hard himself and needed to do a piece to camera! He should put in some training time so he doesn't get out sprinted by the next crook that takes to their heels.

I think the worst bit was the casing of her home for goods/cash for them to steal. If a prosecution doesn't arise from this I will be very surprised - they are clearly an organised criminal gang. Lining up and shooting would be too good for them. I would put them all through the chipper - feet first so they can feel it.

Could really do with the OP defining what he wants to do in Forestry - as its not a one size fits all job. Yes there is felling, and as some said above harvesting machinery work etc. but following his course, he could be thinking of production forestry or woodland management or conservation forestry or.... etc. He may not even want his hands on a saw. So what is it you really want to do in your work SC49? Oh, and yes - Scotland or Cumbria for Forestry.

No, it wont regrow if you kill the cambium. So, by debarking and drying out you will stop the physiological processes ie kill it and it will be fine to use. Just make sure you dry it properly after debarking to be certain.

In my court approved consultant fees, this amount is £25.00.

No, it wasn't that image that I was thinking of. It was often published with the image of a 'lady' seen in the bark of a birch - again photoshopped. I can find this: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCILDhZrDwsgCFQhsGgodBS0BYA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F9822967%40N02%2F2380765678&psig=AFQjCNGyuRakgkfrT6yr0PLHfqFl0s4CWw&ust=1444931431026268 but not the first image I was thinking of. Either way, it looks like a couple of you have some great images. If you still have the wood - how about 2cm discs for coasters? Christmas is coming...

Very interesting looking. There was a similar image going around the web a few years back that was clearly photoshopped, but as you say you found this today - good effort, it should be your avatar now. I probably would have missed it and put it in the log pile...

Now, I'm no advanced climber as several on here are (I still use a Blake's when I need to climb...), however, I understood the use of a soft link was to enable the quick cutting of the link in a rescue situation to get the casualty off their system and on to yours or similar. As this is on a rope side strop, I don't see that you would need a soft link in that scenario as you would just cut through the strop. There are several rope grabs available for sale which recommend direct linkage to krabs - although not all arb specific. I'm with you Stuart - I can't understand what he's talking about.

Yes, I will do what I can regarding a follow up to see who actually goes...