On Tuesday February 27th the Hyndburn’s Woodland’s Volunteers were at Huncoat East woodland carrying out some coppicing work on the many Hazel Copse (a grove of coppiced trees) present in the woodland.
Coppicing involves using hand tools (such as a bowsaw) to fell a tree to a stool stage (a stump from which new growth can emerge), the new growth then shoots out and is allowed to grow for a period of roughly seven years. Once the growing period is complete, the limbs are then felled and the tree returns to a stool from which future growth can emerge and the cycle continues.
Coppicing is an ancient form of woodland management dating back to at least the stone age.
Once the coppice tree has been returned to it’s stool stage it is important to offer some protection to the new growth from browsing animals. In this case, the volunteers constructed ‘dragon’s nests’ made from the unusable parts of the product (see below).
The usable lengths of Hazel were then used to create new hedging stakes which were added to the wonderful ‘outdoor learning area’ established in the woodland for outdoor learning sessions. This involved using hatchets to shape the stake to a point which could then be driven into the hedge to add more structure.
Thank you to all our volunteers who helped on the day, your efforts were greatly appreciated and we thank you for braving the weather that day with us.
