About the Project
Season 2009 - 2010
In early November we started work on Tuesday mornings 10.0 - 13.00 because the core of volunteers are able to do that morning. We realise that most people are not available during the working week and will organise weekend work to suite new volunteers
See all current dates in the join-in section
We are harvesting in the very first section which we cleared and planted in Autumn 2003. We have orders to fill for 8ft bean poles from members of the Gardening Club and we hope to do pea sticks as well. We need to do some fencing work in the copse and will harvest material for that too.
We applied for a small additonal grant to improve access. We have had notice that we have been successful; this is from the Landfill Tax Credit system via the TOE. The Parish Council offered a grant of up to £100 in this financial year and this is the 'seed corn' for the grant.
So our thanks to the Parish Council and the TOE.
Come along just to look and have a coffee, or join us for fun, exercise and learning.
Details here
About the Project
The Wendlebury Woodland Project was formed with the intention of restoring some of the ancient woodland in the locality so as to provide an amenity for the village and to encourage villagers to participate in a long term co-operative venture.
The first task we have undertaken is to restore a remnant of Bowlers Copse which has hazel and widely spaced oak trees. When work started in the winter of 2003 the copse was mostly overgrown with brambles and ivy. Most of the original hazel had died and been replaced by Hawthorne, Aspen and Ash and many of these were in poor condition.
Since that date the project has cleared much of the unwanted growth and planted 1,300 new Hazel. The small number of original hazel which had survived have been coppiced and are now producing useful timber. Two access bridges have been built and the copse now has a path which meanders through the whole length and around the pond at the Northern perimeter. In addition to the new Hazel we have also planted other native species including Spindle, Purging Blackthorn, Rose Guelder and Wild Plum.
Part of the original vision was to involve the local community in a very long term project and we hope that others will join us and learn more about the way our forefathers lived, renewable energy, craft skills, native trees plants and animals. Along the way we hope that we will improve the community by getting people involved in enjoyable outdoor activity and would like to see the range of activities associated with the copse broaden.
But at the end it is all a matter of attitudes and preference. There is no particular reason why we should not use plastic clothes pegs produced in a China rather than use locally made wooden ones - or is there?