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The Wildwood
In geological terms, our woodlands, forests, indeed most of our landscapes, are very recent. Our present countryside began to form some twelve to thirteen thousand years ago when the last Ice Age (The...
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The wildwood and onwards
The New Stone Age or Neolithic Period saw the development of settlements and farming. The transition from hunter-gatherer to farmer began and gradually spread across Britain. The construction of...
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Ancient woodland
In the U.K. about 11.8% of the land is covered by forest, (Thomas and Packham, Ecology of Woodlands and Forests). The amount of ancient woodland, within this, is very low. Ancient woodland is also...
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Ancient woodland part 2
The wholesale destruction of ancient woodland through farming and forestry has diminished but new roads, bypasses and the installation of infra-structure & services (such as utilities & power...
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Hedges, hedgerows ……
Why do hedgerows exist? Many were originally planted to contain livestock (sheep, cattle, pigs, chickens), others existed to define boundaries – who owned which parcels of land. Hedges often...
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British hedges ( in woodlands, gardens and farms)
We British like our hedges – perhaps it’s part of the British reserve, keeping people at arms’ length, or maybe it’s because they are very functional for keeping stock in fields and marking boundaries....
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Coppice and wood pasture.
After the last Ice Age, plants, animals and humans moved back into the vast areas vacated by the retreating ice. Plant, and then, animal communities became established and much of the area was covered...
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