Paul in the woods

You're missing the point. The new regs means sellers of <2 cubic meters of logs must sell under 20%. After a bit of research that's wet basis. Most, if not all, cheap meters use dry basis. 25% dry basis = 20% wet basis. So, if you deliver your logs at the legal limit of 20% wet and some know it all whips out their cheap meter it'll say 25% and they'll start complaining etc, etc.

I cannot find any info what basis that one uses either. As it can be used for construction it's likely to be dry basis, so we're back to the same problem.

There are no ditches at all, no space for them on the road and no sign in the field. There's plenty of examples where you don't need to accept water, for example a one neighbour cannot channel water where it would harm the other neighbour. (You cannot divert gutters onto your neighbours patio for example). I am also aware that if the boot was on the other foot, i.e. my field flooded the road the council could take action against me. So the laws are not straight forward.

I think the simple answer is unless a moisture meter clearly states what basis it uses you cannot rely on it. If you're a commercial producer I would expect you'd need a suitable meter and be able to prove what basis it uses. As for a private user, you should be able to work out what basis it uses by fully drying a piece of wood. @openspaceman has described this process in other threads. It would be nice if woodsure or a similar body provided a list of meters and the basis they use. Might be worth emailing them?

Does anyone know much about drainage rights? I have some simple understanding and I've done some reading but it's a vast subject. I understand some basics, such as the requirement to accept water from a higher field for example, or riparian rights to accept water from a higher ditch into yours etc. Specifically I have a field that I'd like to plant up with trees. This field is being flooded by the road via the field entrance. There is no ditch on the road or in the field so I do not believe there are any riparian rights. There is nothing in my deeds and nothing came up in the searches when the house was purchased. It is not a simple matter to dig my own ditch as I would be diverting water containing a large amount of pollution from the road direct into a stream. It would also be a fair bit of work to maintain as there's a vast amount of silt that will block it. As I don't use this field entrance I can either block it or leave it to naturally block. However, this will leave the water on the road. I have tried discussing the issue with the council but they have been no use at all. Matters have come to a head as there's been some recent accidents due to the poor roads in the area and I'm worried that I'll end up with a field full or diesel/oil etc. When I've raised this with the council they feel it would be my problem to sort out. So, does anyone know if I have to accept this water and everything it contains? Can anyone point me towards a suitable guide? I am aware I may need to take legal advice but I would like to get a better understanding of the law first.

Interest read. One thing that sticks out to me are there seem to be so few magpies recorded. Do you really have such low numbers? I'm curious as although we have quite a few birds here there's a huge number of corvids such as magpies.

I wonder if it is some form of rocket mass stove?

If you don't get any answers here I would recommend posting on https://bushcraftuk.com/community/ forum as there's leather workers, historians and general tool collectors over there. I'll happily post a thread for you if you wish.

The first of your new pictures is the flu outlet, so as you say it's not connected up. The firebricks look new but the stove used so possibly it's been picked up 2nd hand to dress the room. Have you spoken to the previous owner? It may be some form of ceramic stove but can't find anything to match on google.

Pellets would fall through the grill? The top would appear where the flu would fit if it's a stove. Is this stove in the UK? Is the thin pipe on the back connected to anything, i.e. is it not gas or electric? It looks too close to combustibles such as the skirting to be a normal wood burner. I had wondered if it's some form of patio stove. As has been said, is there any maker's details on it? The top bar in the 'firebox' appears to have some form writing or mark on it.

Funnily enough I'm not that keen on the tables but quite like the stairs. Reminds me more of the local beaches in the summer sun as the tide comes in.

Well, slowly doesn't rhyme with holly and then poem gets worse! I tend to think these sorts of things are aimed at outdoor camping fires or emergency use but I'd never want to burn green or wet wood. I note there's no alder, so I can't have the usual alder's terrible / alder's great argument.

If you enlarge the photo the fruit body in the top right looks like it has a clear thin stem to me so it would rule out beefsteak? The edges of the caps also have a fair number of splits which I can't find on other photos of Fistulina.

Not the best photo for an id and they also look rather old. I think I can make out a stalk on one and gills on another? I could offer a wild guess but curious to know what you think they are?

I probably picked it up from you. I do wonder how these new regs will be enforced. Will trading standards have their own meters or will they expect suppliers to have one? If the latter then it would make sense to have one that clearly shows what basis it uses.

I've mentioned the wet basis vs dry basis before. It seems strange the legislation doesn't mention what basis the 20% refers to. Even a search on the Woodsure site doesn't find anything. However, this video, at about 1:15 in, does mention wet basis and it also mentions the point about moisture meters. https://woodsure.co.uk/firewood-moisture-content/ I think most cheap meters measure on a dry basis as they are also aimed at construction although many don't state what basis they use. Screen print from the video:

I often wonder why our local council seem to wait until winter to fill potholes, they seem to want them full of mud and water so the repair only lasts a day or two... Does that work as well as they claim? I could be very tempted to get hold of some and patch our road.

I wonder if there are more than 30? I'll add: The Zombies and One Way, there even seems to have been a band called Road.

4 tops, Thompson Twins, Rolling Stones, Curiosity Killed the Cat.

I've got a Bosch 12V drill driver and a 12V impact wrench. I deliberately got them as I find working with them much less stress on my poor aching wrists. The batteries seem to last well for small jobs and I've picked up several with cheap offers.

There's a couple of pics from @The avantgardener in this thread. https://arbtalk.co.uk/forums/topic/120819-maybe-the-uk-should-plant-more/page/11/

As someone considering planting an area up this does concern me. I don't like the typical blue euc planted in gardens for example. As a bee keeper I'm also curious about the flowering varieties but that may mean viable seed is produced. On the other hand other options for what I would like to do are willow, poplar or some form of conifer - all of which don't seem to fit in either. One of the reasons for it is to plant up areas where ash is going to be removed, and it occurred to me the other day that those areas probably had a fair bit of elm 50 years ago. I tend to look at non-natives as complimentary to what we have.

We also get the odd flutterby and dopey queen wasp (thankfully no queen hornets yet). What I've been wondering, is there any way to add something in the log store that is more appealing to the wildlife so it can safely over winter without being brought inside? I might try a top shelf of small logs that are left until late spring.

If you have any suckers from your existing elms they should be easier to transplant if you can get a bit of root on them.

If it's a recent build you should be able to find all the original planning docs online which may shed light on the TPO and steps taken to cater for the tree.