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Woodsman

Page 13

by Ben Law


  Crown: the branches and top of the tree above the bole

  Faggot: a tied bundle of small branches traditionally used to fire ovens, now used for riverbank restoration and coastal defence

  Greenwood: freshly cut wood

  In-cycle coppice: coppice that has been cut at regular intervals and is not overstood

  Maiden: young single-stem tree that has not been coppiced

  Mortise: a chiselled slot, into or through which a tenon is inserted

  Overstood coppice: coppice that has not been cut for many years and is out of rotation for usual coppice produce

  Permaculture: ecological design for a sustainable future

  Pollard: tree that has been cut above animal-grazing height to allow repeated harvesting of poles from the crown

  Pleachers: partially cut-through stems of hedges that are laid at an angle and continue to grow as the sap still flows

  Ride: an access route through a woodland, often used for timber extraction

  Rootstock: the root onto which a scion is grafted

  Snedding: removal of side branches and top of a felled tree

  Standard: a single-stemmed tree allowed to grow to maturity, commonly amongst coppice

  Stool: the living stump of a coppiced tree from which new stems grow

  Suckering: re-growth from existing roots of a tree after cutting

  Tenon: the projecting end of a timber that is inserted into a mortise

  Underwood: coppice woodland

  Windblow: trees that have been toppled over by the wind

  Yurt: a wooden-framed, transportable dwelling with canvas covering, originating in Asia and now found as a dwelling in woodland

  Index

  The page numbers in this index relate to the printed version of this book; they do not match the pages of your ebook. You can use your ebook reader’s search tool to find a specific word or passage.

  adze, cleaving, 108–9, 111

  agro-forestry: systems, 208–9; in towns and cities, 211–12

  Albania, permaculture in, 48–9

  The Alchemist (Coelho), 25

  alder (Alnus glutinosa), 193–4, 206; uses for wood, 194–5

  allotments, 212

  almond, 211

  Ancient Woodland (Rackham), 74

  anenome, wood, 49

  apples: crab (Malus sylvestris), 35–6, 44, 48, 197–8; diploids and tetrapoids, 44; pollination, 195; pressing, 37–40; rootstocks, 44–5, 48; storage, 226, 227; varieties, 37, 43–4, 227; see also cider; orchards

  architects, 133, 136

  Arun, River, 23, 49, 228

  ash (Fraxinus excelsior): as canopy species, 74; dieback, 178–9, 209; qualities of wood, 186, 187–90; standards, 187; uses for wood, 31, 37, 150, 187–90, 209; the ‘widow maker’, 186

  autumn, 157, 160–1; colours, 196, 198

  bakeries, 41, 228–9, 234–5

  The Bard and Co, 18

  barn conversions, 215, 216

  beech (Fagus sylvatica), 4

  bees, 195, 212

  benders, 8–9, 136

  bilberries, 62–4

  bill hooks, 81–2; sharpening of, 82–3; uses, 83–4

  biochar, 127–8

  The Biochar Debate (Bruges), 127

  biodiversity, 22, 26, 34, 75, 80, 91, 183

  biosecurity, 179

  birch, silver (Betula pendula): bark, 14, 192; as pioneer species, 74; sap wine, 192–3; uses for wood, 53, 191–2

  birds: dawn chorus, 7–8, 14–15; hedges as perfect habitat for, 34; migratory, 157

  black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), 205–6, 207

  blackberries, 62, 195

  Blackdown, 62

  blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), 29–30, 35

  boar, wild, 210

  boat building, 31

  brambles, 74

  canals, 222

  caravans, timber-framed, 219

  chainsaws, 85, 221

  chairs, bentwood, 111, 112

  charcoal: artists’, 124–6; biochar/fines, 126–8; burning, 19, 113–23; imported, 113; kiln, 116–19; markets for, 123–4; woods used for, 125, 194–5, 196–7

  cherry, 35, 198, 211

  chestnut, sweet (Castanea sativa), 8, 31, 64–6, 211; cleaving of poles, 101–5, 106–9; compared with oak, 205; growth rate, 105–6; introduction, 64, 201; nuts, 64–6, 106; qualities of wood, 105–6; and squirrels, 64–5; uses for wood, 31, 76–7, 106, 110–11, 151, 166; see also coppicing

  chickens, 157

  cider: apple varieties, 37, 227; making, 37–41, 227, 228

  cities, agro-forestry in, 211–12

  clay: puddling, 22–3; Wealden, 23, 76, 183

  clear felling, 91–2, 166–7

  cleaving, 76, 95, 101–5, 106–9, 187

  climate change, 24, 216; effect on trees, 204–5, 207

  cob nut, orchard, 42–3

  community service, 223, 226

  community-supported agricultural systems (CSA), 214

  community-supported forestry (CSF), 214

  continuous cover forestry, 92

  Cook on the Wild Side (TV series), 146

  coppice workers: accommodation, 215; tools, 81–4, 94–5, 107–8; training, 86–7, 214–15, 223 coppicing: benefits of, 70–1; deadwood, 80; definition, 70; early evidence of, 74; fruit avenues, 69–70; hurdle making, 76, 98, 109–10, 126, 182, 190; littering, 95, 98; lore, 94–5; management, 70–1, 80–1, 83–6, 88, 123; poles, 76–7, 83–4, 151; products from, 76–7, 98, 109–12, 116, 128, 166, 182, 183; re-growth, 75, 85, 93, 105–6; restoration of derelict coppice, 93–4, 185; rotation cycles, 74, 76–7; stools, 70, 71, 105; sustainability, 70, 85–6; trees used for, 186, 196–8, 205; underwood, 70; with standards, 181, 187; see also charcoal

  Cowdray estate, 41, 176

  Cranborne Chase, 183

  cypress, swamp (Taxodium distichum), 206

  deer, roe, 7; roadkill preparation, 57–8

  Deer Act, 58

  Dorset Coppice Group, 88

  Douglas fir, 166, 207

  Dutch elm disease, 207

  dwellings, 133–6; benders, 8–9, 136; ‘Woodland House’, construction of, 145–57; yurts, 137–40

  East Malling Research Station, rootstocks, 45

  Farnham Castle, 30

  Fearnley-Whittingstall, Hugh, 146

  fires, 6, 15, 157, 231

  fish, of River Lod, 50

  flora, woodland ground, 21, 49, 90–1, 181, 183, 204

  food production, 59, 212

  foraging: bilberries, 62–3; roadkill, 57–8; sweet chestnuts, 64–6; walnuts, 58–9

  forest dwellers, rainforest, 25–6, 141

  framing, see roundwood framing

  Frankia alni, 194

  froe, 107–8

  fungi: ash dieback fungus (Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus), 178, 209; chicken of the woods, 51–2; cultivation of, 52–4; Frankia alni, 194; horn of plenty (black trumpet), 51; puffball, giant, 51; shiitake, 52; sudden oak death fungus (Phytophthora ramorum), 177–8, 205

  garlic, wild, 49–50

  Grand Designs (TV series), ‘Woodland House’, 147–8, 161, 162, 170; response to, 162–4

  grassland, chalk, 75

  Great Storm (1987), 6

  greensand, 8, 19, 183

  grindstone, 83

  Hampshire Coppice Group, 88

  hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), 35, 197

  hazel (Corylus avellana): best areas for growing, 183; cob nut orchard, 42–3; coppicing, 74, 93, 181–2, 185; flowers, 184; qualities of wood, 182; uses for wood, 4, 8–9, 31, 35, 182, 183, 184, 185

  heartnut (Juglans ailantifolia var. cordiformis, 209, 221

  hedge laying: 30–1, 36, 182; benefits of, 31–5; uses for re-growth, 31

  hedgerows, planting, 34–5, 36

  holly (Ilex aquifolium), 8, 35

  Hollist Arms, Lodsworth, 40, 87, 111–12, 228, 229

  Holmes, Ted, 37, 41

  honey, 212

  honeysuckle, 37

  hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), 19
6–7

  horses: for pleasure, 210–11, 221; polo ponies, 211; working in woodlands, 77–8, 92, 221–2, 228

  hurdle making, 76, 98, 109–10, 126, 182, 190

  Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus, 178, 209

  ivy, 195–6

  King’s Somborne, 183

  labour: community service, 223, 226; need for more, 208, 213–14, 216; trading for goods, 214

  Langham Brewery, 228, 234

  larch: European (Larix decidua), 90–1, 150; Japanese (Larix kaempferi), 178

  Lawson cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), 166, 207

  Leggatt Hill, 231

  Lickfold Bridge, flooding at, 50–1

  Lickfold Inn, 161

  lime: burning, 149; plastering, 148–9, 151, 184; vs concrete, 149

  Littlehampton, 23, 49

  Lod, River, 23, 49, 50–1

  Lod’s Bridge, 49

  Lodsworth: cider-making, 37, 40–1; future of, 219, 226–31, 234–6; Larder, 168–9; Larder, future of, 229–30, 234, 236; see also Hollist Arms

  Lurgashall, 50

  McCloud, Kevin, 147, 161

  maple, field (Acer campestre), 196

  marketing of wood products, 111, 113, 125; niche markets, 128–9

  mushrooms, see fungi

  National Trust, 62, 169

  nightjar, 11, 14

  nitrogen-fixing trees, 194, 205, 206

  oak, English (Quercus robur): as canopy species, 74; defoliation, 178, 205; management, 89, 176, 179–80; Queen Elizabeth Oak, 176; Shakespeare’s Oak, 16–19, 176; standards, 35, 175, 180–1, 186; sudden oak death, 177–8; uses for wood, 150, 168, 177; wildlife supported by, 181

  oak processionary moth (Thaumetopea processionea), 178

  oil: crisis, 214, 219, 222, 230, 231; post-oil society, 234, 236, 238

  orchards: apple, 37, 43, 62, 227; cob-nut, 42–3; planting, 44–8, 45–8, 48; plum and gage, 42; in silvi-pastoral systems, 37, 208

  owl, tawny, 7

  pear (Pyrus spp.), 195, 211

  permaculture, 146, 208, 236; research in Albania, 48–9

  Pestalozzi International Village, 165

  pheasant, roadkill, 57–8

  Phytophthora ramorum, 177–8, 205

  pigs: feed for, 40, 228; puddling clay, 22

  planning applications, 144–5, 152; law, 141, 142–3; tests, 143

  plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS), 88–91

  plum (Prunus spp.), 42, 45, 62, 195, 211

  poles, 76–7, 83–4; cleaving of, 76, 95, 101–5, 106–9, 187; peeling of, 151

  pollarding, 29, 176–7

  ponds: puddling, 22–3; swimming in, 20

  population, human: control, need for, 55–6; hope in next generation, 56–7, 233, 237–8

  power stations: nuclear, 222–3; wood-fired, 221, 235

  Prickly Nut Wood, 3, 26; age, 9–10; apprentice workers, 111, 165, 168, 190, 214; drainage, 19–20, 22–3, 193; mixed coppice, 181, 183, 191, 194, 195–8; at night 6–7; open days, 164; pond, 20–1, 22–3; Shakespeare’s Oak, 16–19, 176; soil, 8; SSSI, 201; wood bank, 21–2; wooded common, 29–30; year of observation, 4, 25, 29, 69, 106

  puddling, 22–3

  Queen Elizabeth Oak, 176

  quince, rootstocks, 45

  rabbit, roadkill, 57, 58

  railways, land management, 212–13

  rainforest: destruction, 25; living conditions of forest-dweller, 25–6

  Rayburn (stove), 161–2

  Redlands Farm, 219

  rhododendron, 15–16, 22, 177

  roadkill, 57–8

  rose, 35

  Rother, River, 23, 49, 228

  roundwood framing, 153–6, 165–6, 167–71, 172

  Roundwood Timber Trading Company, 165–6; buildings by, 168–9

  rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), 197

  Rudd, Arthur, 82

  sawmill, 92; mobile, 166

  Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), 166

  seasons, change of, 157, 160–1, 227–8

  seats, chestnut, 111

  Shakespeare’s Oak, 16–19, 176

  sheep, 157–60; grazing in silvi-pastoral systems, 37, 48, 62, 75, 208

  shelters, see dwellings

  silvi-pastoral system, 37, 62, 208

  sloes, 29

  Snaplands Farm, 215

  soils: chalk/limestone, 183, 186; clay, 8, 76, 196; erosion, 91–2; greensand, 8, 19, 183; replenishing fertility, 70, 89, 208; terra preta, 127

  solar panels, 221

  squirrels, 59, 64–5, 106, 160, 209

  stools, coppice, 70, 71, 105

  straw bales, use of in dwellings, 148

  strawberry, 63

  Sussex Botanical Society, 91

  Sussex ‘pimp’ (kindling), 116

  Sussex and Surrey Coppice Group, 87

  Temple of the Winds, 62

  timber: bending, 137, 138–40; cutting, 221; extraction, 75–6, 77–80; panels, 110; for power, 221–2; roundwood framing, 153–6, 165–6, 167–71, 172; trees suitable for, 166, 206–7; unsustainable, 113

  Transition Towns Movement, 236

  transport, future of, 222, 228

  trees: climate change, effect on, 204–5; dead, value to birds, 10–11, 80; exotics, 201, 203, 205–6; felling, 85, 91–2, 166–7; native, 201; nitrogen-fixing, 194, 205, 206; pathogens, 177–9, 207; pioneer and climax species, 74; pollarding, 176–7; as sacred places, 19; species for coppicing, 196–7; species for timber, 206–7; standards, 35, 37, 48, 85, 166, 175, 180–1, 186, 187; see also coppicing; woodlands; and individual trees

  trout, brown, 50

  underwood, 70

  verjuice, crab apple, 35–6

  walking sticks: ash, 37; blackthorn, 30; rowan, 197

  walnut (Juglans regia), 58–9, 207, 209, 220–1, 229

  water storage, 23–4

  waterwheel, for sharpening tools, 82

  Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, 113

  Wealden clay, 8, 23, 76

  Wessex Coppice Group, 87

  Western red cedar, 166, 207

  wheelwrights, 41–2

  wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis), 198

  willow, 49, 74, 206; goat (Salix caprea), 22, 195; uses for, 125, 126, 177

  winch, forestry, 79

  wine: birch sap, 192–3; maple sap, 196; rowan berry, 197

  wood bending, 137, 138–40

  Woodland Crafts in Britain (Edlin), 182

  ‘Woodland House’, construction of, 145–57

  woodlands: edges, 21–2; horses, working in, 77–9; littering, 95, 98; lore, 26; management, 10, 11, 26, 69, 70–1, 85–6, 88–92, 164, 166–8, 179–80; pioneer and climax species, 74–5; rotation cycles, 74–5, 76–7, 89, 166–7, 176; see also coppicing; trees

  Working Horse Trust, 77

  wren, 5

  yurts, 137–40

  Ben’s previous books:

  The Woodland Way

  The Woodland House

  The Woodland Year

  Roundwood Timber Framing

  If you would like to find out more about Ben’s books, products, the courses and open days he runs and much more, please visit: www.ben-law.co.uk

  Copyright

  First published in 2013 by Collins

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  FIRST EDITION

  Text and illustrations © Ben Law 2013

  Ben Law asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work

  A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

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  Ebook Edition © March 2013 ISBN: 9780007498734

  Version 1

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