Coppicing Season Comes To An End
Beanpoles and Pea Boughs
It is now a month since the end of the coppicing season and we have had time to take stock and evaluate the impact of all our hard work.
The weather was not our best ally this year. we lost four days to rain and one to the snow. Although this sounds a lot it is not that bad considering the amount of rain we had at the beginning of the season, and the snow after Christmas; which seemed to bring the entire country to a standstill.
Our worker numbers have remained fairly consistent through the season (generally 7-10 most Sundays). The 2nd. Durrington Sea Scouts and 1st. Midhurst Guides gave our efforts a terrific boost (see separate articles on the website) and we are very grateful for their contribution. Overall we benefited from 143 adult work days and 19 young person work days. Last year the figures were 181 and 35 respectively. This reflects the increased impact of the weather this year and the slightly reduced Scout days.
The coppicing has been rather complex this year because we have been operating in a number of Cants. We started cutting the broad edge to Cant T. This is a rather scrappy piece of woodland which runs along the Southern edge of the industrial estate. The area had been neglected for a number of years, and consequently the wood was mature and smothered in Honeysuckle and Brambles. In addition some of the larger willows were overhanging the chain-link boundary fence, making extraction tricky. Before Christmas we extended the Butterfly glade in Cant M; which should prove of benefit to the flora as well as butterflies and other invertebrates. After Christmas we cut the Southern edge of Cant A. This area was cut seperately because it ran outside the original coppicing schedule when the pipe was installed between the weir and the balancing pond. It may be possible to synchronise it with the rest of Cant A in due course. The area certainly produced some fine Beanpoles and Pea Boughs. The end of the season was spent in Cant D. We did not complete this area, but we were not far short of completion; which shows what a great effort our workers put in, given the difficult season.
