The Tottington Woodlanders

It seems amazing that I have just typed in Autumn 2009 as the heading; it doesn’t seem long ago that I was putting together the summer newsletter and still planning some of the shows.

Working as we do with nature and the seasons, and with a calendar punctuated with certain events, one tends to notice the time and how it goes by. I think each season has its own beauty, the spring offers hope, the summer long days and the sun, winter atmospheric days with dramatic weather but I think perhaps autumn is only matched by the spring. The countryside can look stunning, and there are lots of interesting things about like fungi and as the summer migrants go home interesting early winter visitors. As the weather starts to cool down, you get those misty mornings, which can be so wonderful.

Autumn will see the clocks going back and this signals the start of the coppicing season so until March, Sunday means early starts and a keen eye on the weather.

If you fancy getting out into the countryside and learning about a traditional craft and its impact then I suggest that you come along to see what goes on at a Woodlanders’ coppicing day (for more details see later on).

I might be biased but when it is a nice frosty sunny winter’s morning then there can’t be many better places to be than in a wood, coppicing, carrying out a craft which has been done for many years. And perhaps it is in a different way more important now than it was a hundred years ago.

Hardly have we started coppicing then our thoughts turn to the Wassail, yes believe it or not, we have already started planning certain parts of the day.

This event seems to have grown and grown every year and become part of Woodlanders’ tradition as much as the coppicing. There are more details to follow in the flyer but if you have not been to this event I suggest that 2009 should be your first time. If you are unsure, ask other members who have been and they will surely tell you how magical the wood becomes.

I hope that I have convinced you that Tottington Wood is not just a place to be enjoyed in the kinder months of the year but it has a certain qualities in the autumn and winter which are as enjoyable.

Let’s hope we see most of you at the Wassail or maybe on the occasional Sunday morning helping with the winter work programme.

Regards

Chris Burchell Collins

Chairman