This month

We start looking ahead to the new season with the first of our woodland profiles. Meanwhile, we've been busy in the community, the Hub shelter conversion continues to gather pace, and strong charcoal sales are keeping everyone occupied.

Woodland Wins

Session prep for next season

First Aid training is available for all Heartwood members for free. The course is one day, held at the Old School Room in Blackfordby and covers a range of injuries and ailments.

Every Heartwood session relies on having qualified first aiders on site, and it's a skill for life.  We would ask that you please consider attending. Courses are being run on Saturday 15th August, Sat 19th September and Sunday 20th September. The dates are all on the booking system.

Woodlands in detail #1

Over the next few editions, we will talk in a little more detail about the woodlands we will be working in season to give you a feel for them.

This month it’s Pick Triangle:

Landowner – National Forest Company

Type – Mixed broadleaf. Unusually for the woodlands we usually work there is quite a bit of Lime, together with Oak, Ash, Alder, Birch, Cherry and Hazel

Sessions – Session size is limited by parking, so as last season there will be a 15-person limit. Parking makes use of the National Forest car park at Feanedock which is a 15-minute walk from the work area. There will be specific Coppicing sessions, as there are several Hazel plantations, along with the normal wood fuel, so timber volumes may vary. The detail will be available on the sessions when you book. Extraction will be by ATV and trailer.

General – The woodland is very pleasant, the trees are not too tall, and are generally a manageable size, making timber handling relatively straightforward. With several compartments still to be worked, Pick Triangle should remain part of the Heartwood program for a good number of seasons to come.

Engaging with Others

Community Nest Boxes

The National Forest Company (NFC) ran a community engagement event at Agar Nook and asked us to attend to provide a nest box making session. A small team of us spent time with children and adults who constructed their boxes to take home from kits provided by Heartwood. It was the first test outing of the new trestle tables which proved to be well up to the job of multiple people hammering nails into nest boxes at the same time. It was also the first opportunity to show off our new Heartwood flags, helping visitors see who we are and what we do.

School Visit

I was asked by a friend associated with Elmsleigh Drive school to give the children a talk about charcoal. Using some of the educational material provided by the NFC a few years ago, together with a supply of Heartwood-produced drawing charcoal, I talked about the history of charcoal, how it's made, the science behind it and its many artistic uses. It turned out to be a very rewarding day as I presented to three classes of different ages. I received a lovely thank you card from the children and an example of some of the charcoal drawings they did on the day.

Kev

The Hub - Project Updates

Shelter Conversion

The conversion of the central shelter has moved on a great deal over the last month. Once the wrens had fledged and left their beautifully constructed nest, we were able to strip out the old shelving and start the re-build. Partitions have been built using materials we already had, including corrugated iron sheet and roofing laths. The top half of the dividing panels is now being completed with woven willow. This will provide a quiet seating area at one end of the shelter.

Thanks to Dave Barker we received a donation of materials from Wickes of Ashby as part of their efforts to support local charities and groups. This timber was used to create a long table for eating, drinking and chatting.

There is still a little work to do, but it really is taking shape

Wanted

Kettle BBQ – If anyone has a kettle style BBQ they no longer need please let us know.

Solid frying pans – if you have any solid frying pans, (not non-stick) that you dont use anymore, we could do with a few for the open fire please.

Unwanted Mugs – We are still on the lookout for drinking mugs for the Hub. If you have any mugs cluttering your cupboards and would like to donate to the Hub stock, please let us know

The Hub Update

Crafts – Saturdays

Would you enjoy spending some time crafting at The Hub? Whether you're working on your own project or would simply like some company while you create, we'd love to see you. Just let us know in advance if you'd like us to bring along some craft supplies.

Do you have a craft or creative skill you'd be happy to share over a coffee and a chat? We'd love to hear from you! It's a wonderful way to meet others, inspire creativity, and learn something new together.

Many of us enjoy the idea of crafting but sometimes feel we're "not good enough" to give it a go. At The Hub, there are no experts or beginners—just people enjoying being creative together. So why not come along, have a go, and encourage one another in a relaxed and friendly environment?

Dragon Watch

The Dragons continue to undergo slight modifications which help their operation. Learning how to use them when converting various species of timber at differing levels of seasoning is an ongoing process. The demand this season has meant we are working our way through our timber supply faster than in previous years.

We have secured a couple of timber sources, so even though we thought charcoal timber processing was complete for this year we imported two trailer loads of Hazel for processing and stacking only last week.

Our outlets have also been busy with the recent warm weather driving demand. There are charcoal making sessions running most weeks, so if you are interested, please join the “TOITW” Whatsapp group.

Christmas

After our meeting with the team at Rosliston Forestry Centre (RFC) at the end of May we have agreed the format and scale of the Christmas snowman making events building on the huge success of last year’s, (we ran out of Snowman parts!). It’s going to be a challenge to create the stock of parts as we expect to make 100 snowmen on each of the 4 days (two weekends).

The response to our request for volunteers has been really encouraging, but we still need more people to help make the event a success. Sessions are already on the booking system and there's no need to commit to a full day, so please take a look and get in touch if you'd like to be involved. We are also planning to make the experience even more magical for the children this year including what we hope will be a stunning display at the entrance, which will need some help from our Hub crafty volunteers making conifer garlands, willow stars, wreaths and the like. Speak to Dave B if you would like to help with these.

Next month...

We'll continue our Woodland in Detail series by visiting another of this season's sites, catch up on progress at the Hub and reveal more plans for this year's Christmas events.