Paul in the woods

Probably not, but it's the forth time in four years they've done something. I now need to fell the remaining trees and fence of the area but I expect they'll damage the fencing in a couple of years time.

I was expecting someone to suggest contacting a suitable councillor as well but in both cases not worth it. The MP doesn't seem to reply to letters and when I last spoke to a councillor they seemed more interested in what I could do for them than helping.

Going back to the original post. As someone who's recently tried to get someone in for a job I'm surprised how hard it's been. There's not a local tree business I'm aware of and those that are a bit further out don't seem to have a web site and just rely of facebook/mobile. I've spoken to a couple of neighbours and they ended up getting people in from 30 miles away which seems daft for small jobs. It's not a wealthy area but there's lots of second homes and a good number of large roadside ash showing signs for dieback. Plenty of work for someone with a MEWP I'd have thought.

Does it though? I've been a net saver since the financial crisis and I don't think anyone at the time would have thought interest rates would have stay so low for so long. You would tend to think the the current government borrowing can't last for ever but many seem to think it can. Perhaps a big fall out with China is more likely but who knows.

Or the ubiquitous dormouse. When the first waste was dumped there were a few orchid seedlings appearing which did get some sort of reaction from the council. The waste also includes invasive plant material. Unfortunately none of this seems to matter now.

Sadly there's no such thing any more. The 'local' papers have been swallowed up and are now county wide so no local news. The best I could come up with would be tweeting or posting on their Facebook page although I don't use either. I might have to set something up one day but where will it end, I'll be phoning in radio shows before I know it.

They don't seem to care about that. The work has been contracted out, or rather the old staff have been moved to a 'company'. So although the senior council manager I have spoken to knows the work has been done by 'the company' he has no idea by whom. This came to light after they insisted the worker involved was highly trained and knew what they were doing. I've logged the tree up and it will add to my firewood pile although with the ash I'm taking out it would have been nice to leave the beech. I certainly don't want to spend any money on solicitors etc. It would be nice to get an opinion or two from the guys who work in councils.

I have taken lots of pictures. I've raised the issue of fly tipping and criminal damage which they don't really disagree with. The problem I have is that they think they can do it as they tend to get away with it. I'd normally report fly-tipping to them for example and they're not going to enforce against themselves.

Part of my woodland boarders an itinerant neighbour who once every couple of years turns up to clean out one of their ditches. Unfortunately they tend to venture onto my land, damaging my trees and dumping soil on my land which is mounded up against my trees. Rather than do a sensible job on their own ditch they tend to route water into my property expect me to sort out the mess. A couple of years ago I raised the issue and they admitted they were in the wrong. Unfortunately they came back in December and did further damage which included digging out a channel right next to a large beech tree. A few weeks ago I noticed the beech was leaning and it came down yesterday. Looking at the roots one side has rotted where the neighbour has dug out the channel over the last few years. Reading some of the problem tree/TPO threads I would assume if I did this damage to a TPOed tree I would likely be in trouble. In my case the itinerant neighbour happens to be the council highways dept so would I have any recourse to claim damage? I expect they will simply ignore my concerns even though their actions are likely to have caused the demise of a 25m 80 year old beech tree. Any constructive advice of how to proceed is welcome.

You don't want to use lime if you're planting lime hating plants! As for a pH tester, I've tried a cheap prong type and it didn't work for me. The ones with a pH solution seem ok, go for a kit with a bottle of solution if you plan a few tests.

Can you ph test it? I've mixed composted pine and ericaceous compost for azaleas without problems but I knew the mix would be acidic.

I've done a fair bit of foraging over the shore; limpets, prawns, seaweed etc; then on to bass and my preferred mackerel, all bushcrafty in my opinion. Especially freshly caught mackerel cooked over home felled alder.

One of my relations was working in oyster farming but was made redundant by Brexit/covid. One can only hope it picks up again once leaders get over their egos? I did catch a BBC programme that followed some Cornish insure boats last year. Some seem to be creating a market for local fish locally, is that something you're trying? Once this lockdown eases I must try and get down to my local port as I think they're trying to sell more locally as well. I've always wanted to try spider crab but never seen it for sale, it's been renamed Cornish King Crab or something?

I've always fancied a bit of kayak fishing round here or try an blag my way onto one of the small fishing boats. @Xiucutil what do you normally catch commercially down there? I'll not suggest Rays, but genuinely curious. Up here it's lobsters and crabs and herring still.

I hope no one mentions codwood again.

Not me, are you thinking of Jerusalem artichokes? Funnily enough I've tried growing them in the woodland but the deer ate them all.

I find similar with my little MSA120's Stihl chain. It's cut a fair bit for me and hardly needs sharpening. I wonder what some people must do to require cheap chains and reels unless you have loads of dirty jobs or you're cutting loads of wood.

Anyway, back to something more simple. Tonights dinner was a wild garlic omelet. Wild garlic picked from a patch I've planted and nurtured in our young woodland as part of my attempts to make it more useful and productive. I'm a sort of terraforming bushcrafter.

I know, I've met a pro stalker that does. From a personal point of view I know I can place a shot within an inch of where I want it but I know that by the time I decide to pull the trigger the deer could easily move. The number of times I've shot a squirrel that seems to move the moment I take a shot. Certainly not something for a novice to attempt.

Too small, minimum calibre is something like .270 in the UK.

It's frowned upon because if the deer moves you could leave it without a jaw to starve to death.

Good luck. If your friend is willing to mentor you that may well help. I think it's worth repeating if you do buy a 222/223 look into twist rates. I've seen some 223s with slow twist rates (1:14) really struggle with anything over 50gr. If you're looking for something for deer you'll probably need something around 1 in 9. Slow twist rates suit light bullets which are aimed at vermin. Edit to add, I would strongly suggest applying for a moderator at the same time as your rifle. You don't have to buy one straight away but you have good reason for one.

Sorry, I'm still a bit curios about this. A 222 will be using the same bullet as a 223, just pushing it a bit slower. Looking at the 50gr bullets it seems possible that some loads may be under the 1,000 ft/lb deer limit unless you are right on the limit of the load data. It also looks like you could load a 223 to be very similar to a 222 so I would have thought damage would be very similar. I only raise it as a 223 is more common so you'll have a better choice of ammunition and components if you ever home load.

Well you could read through the 271 pages of guidance... My understanding is that it's legal but not considered good reason on it's own to have. I.e. if you have one for ground game you could use it for fox provided your cert is conditions for all lawful quarry. I don't think this has changed but some forces may interpret the guidance differently. AHPP, Pigeonwatch is still fairly active for a forum.

Apologies for a bit more of a derail and if you already know this but I'd ensure the .222 is still legal with a lead free bullet as lead may well be banned for stalking in years to come. I also assume the .222 is like the .223 and fairly fussy on bullet weight and twist rates so again take care if you have to use lead free.