New pond in old forestry

I had the chance yesterday to inspect some of forestry work we have had done this year. This is the first of what we plan to be a multi-year programme of thinning and improving the two ‘commercial’ forestry blocks which were planted about 50 years ago. Unfortunately it was never thought worthwhile to subsequently manage them and they have desperately needed thinning to let light light in and give the trees a chance to develop further.

Forestry work is inevitably messy and it will be a few years before the brash rots down and the ground fully heals. But already you can see more light getting in and I’m sure the undergrowth will quickly respond. At the edge of the wood a few ponds have formed and they will provide a useful new habitat as well as checking water run off which is the main cause of river flooding.

The damage has also extended to the estate road. And I apologise to anyone who has had to wade through the mud this summer. Wet weather and heavy trucks are not a good combination. But with the last truck now having left we will clear up the road before winter.

The last of the 2011 timber being loaded