10th July 2024
Interpretation boards have been installed both in Simon's Wood and on the Ridges and the latest and smaller boards give an explanation to the coppicing being undertaken in the woodland and ongoing heathland restoration. This information provides visitors with a little more detail to the thinking behind the intervention and the management of these landscapes.
Tasks this week also included collecting the ripened seeds from Gorse Bushes in Simon's Wood and on the Ridges, The idea is to scatter the seeds where previously grew Rhododendron Ponticum as we regularly cut these bushes to control growth and keep paths clear so that indicates they are prolific in growth
Informing
Collecting the Gorse Seeds
8th May 2024
This weeks workday included protecting some of the recently coppiced Sweet Chestnut trees in Simon's Wood. Coppicing is a traditional technique in woodland management to encourage regeneration.
Photos and accompanying text below by Duncan Clark, National Trust Volunteer Ranger
Protecting
You may have wondered why healthy sweet chestnut trees are being felled and even more surprisingly the stumps are being surrounded by fencing ?
This process is a form of coppicing which was undertaken at Simon's Wood in the past using the sweet chestnut for fencing.
Helping new shoots to thrive
Surprisingly even when cut down in this way, new sprouts appear from the stump as shown in this photo. You have to look closely near the bottom of the stump. These shoots are delicacies for the local deer so we need to fence off the stumps to allow these new sprouts to grow into new branches.
Coppicing example
Around Simon's Wood you will see many Sweet Chestnut trees with multiple stems showing the extent of earlier coppicing. This photo shows a Sweet Chestnut that has been coppiced so you can see new stems and trunks of a variety of ages. Some of these new shoots are also showing signs of deer damage.
A wet workday in February 2024
Volunteers and Rangers met in Simon’s Wood today for much needed winter repairs. Filling potholes in the car park made worse by the recent rain and replacing damaged parameter fencing were the main tasks of the day along with the usual litter picking.
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December workdays at Simon's Wood -2023
Here at Friends of Finchampstead Ridges, our first workday in December took place at Brooks Heath in Simon's Wood. A group of Salesforce volunteers also came along to assist with the clearance of gorse and birch saplings. This will enable the heather regenerate and recover from being forever over shadowed.
At our tea break here in this photo, we were kindly supplied with festive and very welcomed mince pies from Lauren, our National Trust Volunteer and Community Involvement Manager - thank you Lauren.
Volunteer Vacancies
There are 3 new volunteer roles within Finchampstead Ridges, Simon's Wood and Ambarrow:
- Habitat Monitoring - Butterflies
- Habitat Monitoring - Birds
- Dog Ranger
The Habitat Monitor roles will suit you if you are:
- Outdoorsy and passionate about the countryside, with a love of any or all wildlife and plant life but especially butterflies, bats, birds, and priority habitats.
- Reasonably fit and healthy as you will be walking over varied terrain.
- Comfortable reading maps and finding your own way around in the countryside without a staff member.
- Happy working in a team or independently
The Dog Ranger role will suit you if you are:
- A responsible dog owner who enjoys walking their dog in the open countryside.
- Happy and confident speaking with other people in an enthusiastic and friendly manner.
-Passionate about dogs, dog walking and the great outdoors.
- Keen to walk with others, whether it's staff, other volunteers, or visitors.
For more information please contact Lauren Bailey-Barber, Volunteer & Community Involvement Manager at: lauren.baileybarber@nationaltrust.org.uk
August Workdays - 2023
Simon's Wood
This month we were once again tackling Rhody regen....however NT Ranger Andrew Norris now has his chemicals ticket so he was following on from the chainsaw to kill off the remaining stumps.
We have the opportunity to appreciate how much light now reaches the woodland floor which in time should encourage those plants that grow in these conditions.
Friends of Finchampstead Rangers received
their new Ranger Polo Shirts ready for
World Ranger Day on 31st July.
April Workdays at Simon's Wood - 2023
There have been significant improvements to the car park on recent volunteer days. This has been a phased programme to not only improve the surface but also to increase capacity.
The car park surface required removal of accumulated autumn debris followed by compaction of suitable hardcore.
Fencing surrounding the car park had deteriorated over the years and a great deal needed replacing.
Suitable Chestnut trees were identified adjacent to the car park and posts cut to size. The posts were used as uprights for the new fencing and also put in place either side of the drive.
Additional work was undertaken on the supplementary entry barrier to enable this to be fully lockable as and when required.
February and March Workdays - 2023
February's work involved placing 80 tons of aggregate in Simon's Wood car park to re-level areas and repair the winter surface damage.
The broken horse guard rails at the bottom of the Ridges were also replaced by the Ranger/volunteer team.
March delivered a cold and snowy workday on the Ridges but it included time out for volunteers to receive their 5 and 10 year service awards from Head Ranger Jamie.
