Apart from a few flakes we have missed the recent blizzards, much of the high winds while even the flooding of Port Meadow has not been anything out of the ordinary. All the ‘exciting’ weather has been elsewhere in the country. It is fascinating to see how much difference there can be in conditions across… Continue reading Oxford in the murk now; a warmer murk in future?
Out with the old, in with the new
A belated December blog, as the Old Man got a bit overwhelmed by other jobs before and after Christmas. So, ‘another year over and what have you done’ sang Lennon. Well, the new book about the Wytham Estate and the research carried out there went through the final publication stages. All seemed under control, until… Continue reading Out with the old, in with the new
Improving ancient woodland condition
A major project is underway to revise the ancient woodland inventories for England, taking them down to patches of 0.25 ha, improving the evidence base and the precision of the mapping. We will soon have a much better estimate of how much ancient woodland there is and where it is. However we know already that… Continue reading Improving ancient woodland condition
Something old, something new
The Old Man has been getting about a bit recently, in the last week looking at ancient trees and woods in Lincolnshire, Nottingham and Yorkshire, replanted ancient woodland in Shropshire and Somerset, and extensive new woodland in Hertfordshire. These were mostly fairly brief visits but each raised some interesting questions and challenges in terms of… Continue reading Something old, something new
In the footsteps of the Legions
A long march, a long march, and twenty years behind, but the girl I met at Clusium comes easy to my mind. The above comes from an imagined Legionary marching song, used in a 1950s’ radio adaptation of The Eagle of the Ninth: I was about five but listened with my older brother. Fragments of… Continue reading In the footsteps of the Legions
The Knepp Estate revisited
In 2003 an unusual note appeared on my desk from English Nature’s office in Lewes (Sussex) about a local local landowner who wanted to let his farm run wild. It sounded interesting but it was not clear what the biodiversity benefits would be, how it could fit with the English Nature’s priorities for improving the… Continue reading The Knepp Estate revisited
Is yours a ‘normal’ forest?
Production foresters developed a concept termed the ‘normal forest’ which is simply one in which all age classes for a give rotation length are equally represented by area. So, in theory you could harvest the same extent of woodland each year in perpetuity, as long as it is immediately restocked: i.e if the rotation is… Continue reading Is yours a ‘normal’ forest?
Is the Old Man Ancient or simply Long-established?
Later today I will be joining a discussion about what is important about ancient woods and whether some characteristics are also shared with younger woodland. So, I am revisiting some of the history of the terms beforehand and how they have evolved. Hayley – the quintessential ancient wood; and recent woodland in the Heart of… Continue reading Is the Old Man Ancient or simply Long-established?
Trees outside woods
In 1544 George Owen acquired part of the Abingdon Abbey’s holdings in Cumnor parish (Grayson and Jones, 1955). The valuation noted that as well as the woodland ‘there be growing about the situation of the said manor and 18 tenements there 600 oaks and elms of 80 and 100 years growth whereof 400 reserved for… Continue reading Trees outside woods
Woodman good, Forester bad?
In folk tales and songs the woodman is generally a good character: he saves Little Red Riding Hood from the wolf. Foresters are a more dubious lot who deserve what they get: in one of the Robin Hood ballads, a group of foresters make fun of the hero and are subsequently slain out of hand;… Continue reading Woodman good, Forester bad?
The Old Man of Wytham 