We're 10 years old, well almost, read more in Woodfuel to Woodland. We have updates from the Hub, Timber 2024, Training and how Mapping has improved how we work.
David Gravett - Membership Coordinator
What's In this Woodfueler
Nest & Bat Box Build and Installation
What’s the job? – No2. Operations – Woodland Mapping
Woodland Trust Internal Audit - Further Update
Woodfuel to Woodland
Heartwood was conceived as a “woodfuel” group from it’s inception almost 10 years ago. Since then, the direction and scope of what we do has become a great deal more diverse. After discussions at last year’s AGM and again at recent committee meetings it was felt the time was right to make a slight change to our name. Heartwood Community Woodfuel Group CIC has now become Heartwood Community Woodland Group CIC. It’s a very subtle change which embraces the broader aspects of what we do. The groups focus on “woodfuel” is not affected, but the change means our name gives a more general description of who we are and what we do.
In celebration of our ten-year anniversary, we are planning a special BBQ at The Hub. This will take place on Sunday the 19th May and will be a family event with lots to do and share.
There was a document produced by Acorn Co-op Support for the National Forest that looked into the feasibility and viability of a woodfuel group in the National Forest. It makes very interesting reading and it’s fascinating to see how Heartwood has grown since these original ideas. Here are a few of photos from the document written after the very first taster session.
Kevin Banton | Heartwood Chair
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Nest & Bat Box Build and Installation
Please keep an eye on the “Time out in the Woods” sessions as we will be constructing the nest and bat boxes over the next few sessions.
We will then be installing the bat and bird boxes at Foxley wood on Sunday 25th February. These are installed as part of the woodland management grant provided by the National Forest Company. The boxes have to be installed before the end of February, but we leave it as late as possible to make sure felling in the area has been completed.
We obviously need a few people prepared to climb ladders, but we also need “ground” workers to prepare the boxes for installation.
Last season it was a lovely sunny Sunday morning where everyone enjoyed a peaceful session and installed the boxes in under two hours. There is an event in the calendar so please book on if you can help.
This year there are a similar number to instal – 54 nest boxes and 32 bat boxes.
Kevin Banton | Heartwood Chair
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What’s the job? – No2. Operations – Woodland Mapping
At the end of the last wood fuel season, we started to realise members were getting lost in the woods; even more worrying was the fact that sometimes it was those hardy souls driving the quads who were getting lost. We looked at Foxley Wood and realised that, as we pressed deeper into the woods, this problem would only get worse.
After some head scratching, we decided that we needed a quick and simple way of telling people where they were. We needed a way of telling the session leads where to work and where timber would be waiting for collection. It would be useful if we could tell the quad drivers how to get to unambiguous locations. We considered high tech solutions, spending some time looking at What 3 Words on the phone. The thought of trying to use mobile phones in the rain together with variations in GPS performance saw that idea off.
This was the point we decided to try marking a series of fixed points through the area of woods we are working. This morphed into the blue/white tape that we fixed round the woods. Each of the taped trees has a unique number, which is marked on the tape and recorded on a large-scale map of the woods. Now we can say ‘there’s a pile of wood at 7’ or ‘camp is at 14’. Laminated maps showing the positions of the markers are available to session leads, quad drivers and anyone who needs them. This has proved very successful.
Up to now, development of the maps and the markers has been led by me using my orienteering map making experience. We would like to expand the number of people who are able to deploy the marks in our woods and update the maps. The maps are all PC based using open-source (free) software which I would be only too happy to share. If you fancy having a go at this rewarding work, please let me know or get in touch with any of the Heartwood team.
Simon Starkey | Operations
Woodland Trust Internal Audit - Further Update
On the last newsletter we gave an update on the actions and plans resulting from the Woodland Trust audit.
One item we would like to give further detail on is the welfare arrangements. There are obviously no facilities on site, but there is a toilet at Overseal Village Hall which can be accessed using a RADAR key. The hall is only a matter of minutes away, so can be considered if needed.
Kevin Banton | Heartwood Chair
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Timber 2024
We have again been invited to be part of Timber festival and have already had exploratory discussions with the organisers about how we will contribute. As previous years we have been asked to run the charcoal retorts, manage the campfire, run nest box making workshops (other construction ideas are also being explored) and work with the organisers to promote the production and uses of biochar. There will be more information over the next few months as we consolidate plans. If you are interested in becoming involved, please let us know.
Kevin Banton | Heartwood Chair
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The Hub Update
Spring is just around the corner and The Hub days have been busy already. As well as general tidy up after a wet January, we have already started as mentioned above to build bird and bat boxes to fulfil our grant work commitments. We still have lots to make though, so if you are free and fancy a bit of woody DIY, sign up for one of the next sessions in early February.
It's also great to see a steady trickle of new faces at our base in the woods, some of whom are bringing with them skills and crafts we didn't know existed in the group. So, if you fancy a go at something new like willow weaving, or if you have that skill or other skills that others may be interested in learning, come along for some Time out in the Woods on one of our regular sessions.
Not everyone is “crafty” of course, and we have some interesting projects underway and planned, for those who would like to get involved in improving our facilities. Keep an eye out for the Hub email updates or check the Hub Task List on the website to see what needs doing and what projects are planned. Our charcoal burners always need running too and we try to do this every session. Did you know that members can also book to come up to the Hub off-session to run a burn after a little training? Still on the “Charcoal” theme, specially exciting is of course our new Kon Tiki Biochar kiln which we will be experimenting with, including making it mobile! Let us know if you would like to be involved.
Kevin Banton | Heartwood Chair
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Training
No session can go ahead without enough first aiders and so as a group, we must have as many members covered as we can. It may seem like we have a lot in the group, but we really need more people to come forward, having more would mean that we can cover when the first aider goes to get their wood, work in different teams, or free up machinery operators. This year we are running two one-day training sessions, free of charge to members. The course gives you an official first-aid qualification and life skills that can be used outside the group as well. We would like to ask you to consider attending a course on either Saturday 3rd August or Friday 16th August, you’ll find them as events where you book normal sessions. We'll even provide tea and biscuits during the course.
Robin Barber | Training Co-ordinator
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