This month   

The spring and summer months are naturally quieter for woodland management work, but time at the Hub can be especially rewarding. Projects continue to move forward, wildlife changes almost week by week, and the woods take on a very different feel to the busy winter season. Behind the scenes, session planning is already underway for next season, alongside woodland plans and grant applications. There is also the inevitable administrative work needed to close our financial year in June.

Woodland Wins

Woodlands for next season

As mentioned in previous newsletters, we will be working in a couple of new woodlands next season. One is privately owned and is a lovely small woodland, the other is owned by South Derbyshire District Council and we are hoping will give us a long-term site to work. The feedback from our work at Pick Triangle and Foremark Reservoir has been very positive and means both will feature again in next year’s plan. The woodlands mentioned here and some of the others in the plan all have their own challenges. There will be varying species of timber together with varying sizes of logs, but I hope we all realise that we are a woodland management group, so must think of the woodland first and the type/size of the timber second.

Engaging with Others

Members of the Swadlincote Social Prescribing team visited the Hub to explore whether some of our woodland activities may benefit patients whose well-being could be improved through time spent outdoors and around practical community activity.

The National Forest team have asked us to run a nest box building session as part of a community action event taking place at Agar Nook in June. We will supply the kits and support for members of the public to build and take home a nest box.

One of our members is part of a home education community. Two charcoal making sessions were run at the Hub where the children were taught about charcoal and then shown how to make their own using biscuit tins in the campfire. Around a dozen families came along over the two sessions.

The Hub - Project Updates

Shelter Conversion

Since the arrival of the Dragons the retorts have become redundant, so the metal roofed shelter at the heart of the Hub is ripe for re-use. It has been agreed that we can convert this to a social and refreshment shelter, so plans have been created to make this happen.

Using ideas gathered from the team, we even used AI to help visualise what the finished shelter might look like (below). With materials being gathered, work has now started on the conversion. There will be a sheltered seating area at one end and a long central table spanning the remainder. We’ll report back on progress. If you’d like to help with the build, keep an eye on upcoming Hub sessions.

Wide - single

Trestles Completed

We always struggled for bench space, especially at Christmas and at any external events, so the answer was to create a set of hefty trestle tables. Using one we already had as a template, the team carefully dismantled several pallets, de-nailed the timber and Terry kindly took the wood away, returning with a set of trestles ready for use. After a coat of wood preservative, they are ready for action.

Wanted

Outdoor Bench Cushions – If you have any outdoor bench cushions you no longer need, please let us know as we are looking for some for the seating area as part of the shelter project.

Unwanted Mugs – Our stock of mugs is gradually falling in numbers with breakages and general wear and tear. If you have any mugs cluttering your cupboards and would like to donate to the Hub stock, please let us know

The Hub Update

Fuel and Feed – The months of gathering what we all know as “charcoal wood” are now paying dividends. All last season’s timber has been processed and is seasoning in the wood stores. Other timber has been gathered over the last year (mainly pine) and provides the fuel to power the Dragons, and of course the campfire for the bacon sarnies. There’s still more to process if you fancy a swing of the axe.

Nesting Bird Updates – This spring has been a busy time for the woodland birds at the Hub. Some of our plans have been put on hold due to birds nesting in unusual places. There is a total of three nests in the bundles of willow – one treecreeper and two wrens. There is also a wren’s nest in a coil of rope hanging under the shelter. Many of the nest boxes around the base are in use again, so the birds seem to approve of what we are doing.

Dragon Watch

The sales pitches a few of our members have taken the time to pursue are paying dividends. After losing the Calke outlet we were concerned sales would drop this season. We couldn’t have been more wrong – we are already ahead of sales for the same time last year and are now starting to see repeat orders from our outlets. It’s certainly keeping the Dragons breathing fire!

Christmas

A small team from the Hub committee are meeting with the management at Rosliston Forestry Centre to discuss some of the logistical aspects of the Christmas Market. We’ll report back on the details and continue to look for ideas if you would like to be involved. There has been a very positive response to the dates on the booking system – please remember we are looking for helpers across the two weekends and will be creating a shift plan, so if you do sign up we really don’t expect you to be there for a prolonged period (unless you want to of course).