Coppicing on Huntley Estate
The winter months from November to March is the time when we practice the old woodland art of coppicing, which is the practice of cutting back (a tree or shrub) to ground level periodically to stimulate growth. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level, resulting in a stool. New growth emerges, and after a number of years, the coppiced tree is harvested, and the cycle begins anew.
Over the last few years, Huntley Estate has shown a renewed interest in the management of their traditional copse sites within the woodland with the aim of restoring coppicing for the benefit of wildlife, species diversity and the health of the trees themselves.
Our primary site has been a traditional hazel coppice area with predominantly Ash standards (mature trees used as lumber) situated at the base of Castle Hill. In 2018, we began to fell and process the overstood coppice stools and we created products for traditional fencing stakes, bean poles and charcoal. We held various community coppice days and a week-long coppice camp coordinated by the Small Woods Association. The plan was to recreate the 8-year cycle of small half to one-acre plots.
We were not only were we seeing the decimation of the new spring growth of our coppice stools by an ever-increasing number of deer, (both the introduced muntjac and the native roe) we were also facing the increasing danger of Ash Dieback disease, causing branches in the canopies of the mature trees to die and fall. It was finally decided that we could not safely work under the Ash trees because the disease forces limbs and whole stems to rot and fall. Therefore, the ash trees were removed, so that we could continue working the area safely. Inevitably felling all the Ash trees meant that much of the hazel coppice understorey had to be felled in the process leaving with us with one large area instead of 8 plots, available for processing year after year.
The situation forced upon us by feral pests and diseases, made us accept that this is not going to be a clear-cut reintroduction of traditional coppice management as we hoped, due to the new set of parameters. We still hope that with a combination of deer control methods, we have a chance of creating good habitat for dormice, birds and butterflies, while growing some traditional hazel products. We are also encouraging some natural regeneration of other larger tree species such as Oak and Sycamore in these copses, so as to recreate a diverse and healthy woodland for all species to enjoy.
