Did you know it’s #GrownInBritainWeek? Today’s theme is collaboration and investing in the future. In 2016, Woodland Heritage invested in Whitney Sawmills, becoming the owner of the highly respected sawmill.
If you’re here, chances are you’ve stumbled across this blog thanks to Matt Estlea’s video. Welcome! This probably means you already know who Matt is, and no introduction is needed, but for those who’ve found the blog by other means, this is a quick note to welcome you and share more about this exciting collaboration! Join the fun below by reading more about the collaboration & watch Matt’s video.
Are you a citizen scientist? Forest Research and The University of Warwick are undertaking a project to understand how surveys for tree pests and pathogens can be more effective by involving citizen science. This September/October, they are asking for your help.
As July began, a group of ‘early career’ forestry professionals toured James Wood, Somerset. The event was run by the Institute of Chartered Foresters as part of a study tour with the group guided by Norbert Kovacs of Pryor & Rickett Silviculture.
The Prince of Wales Award for the top student attending the Woodland Heritage ‘Woodland to Workshop’ courses in 2019 has been awarded to Scunthorpe resident, Rachel Johnson, a timber framing apprentice at the time she attended her course. Rachel is the tenth recipient of this award and had one of the hardest tests to become the winner as three, and not the usual two, courses were run last year meaning that the tutors had over thirty talented students to choose from.
Woodland Heritage is delighted to announce that the joint winners of this year’s Peter Savill Award are Professor Julian Evans OBE and Dr Gabriel Hemery. This is only the second joint award and has been done in recognition of the close working relationships that both winners had with Dr Peter Savill, who sadly died in November last year.
Practical, popular and potentially profitable, Woodland Heritage is open for bookings for the 24th and 25th running of its ‘Woodland to Workshop’ course due to take place at Whitney Sawmills, Herefordshire later this year. The two courses are due to take place on 4-6 May and 28-30 September 2020, with the May event the last featuring industry-legend, Gavin Munro, one of the most knowledgeable and respected timber buyers in Britain.
The loss of Elm, the inexorable removal of Ash, the pests and diseases afflicting the Oak, as well as all species having to adapt to a changing climate, make the challenge for the grower to choose the best (quite possibly alternative) species to plant more difficult by the day, so is this the time to add the often overlooked Wild Service Tree (Sorbus torminalis) more into the planting mix?
