Please see below for updates from some of the sub-committees - if you want to get more involved with the projects please use the contact details in each section. Please remember to fill out the training questionnaire if you are interested in gaining some extra skills.
David Gravett - Membership Coordinator
What's In this Woodfueler
Wood fuel sessions
There are still a few spaces available on sessions in February. March sessions will be available to all members from 6pm on the 1st February.
If an event is full and you would like to attend, please add yourself to the waiting list by registering on the event. If a space becomes available on an event then the first person on the waiting list will automatically be added to the event. Members adding themselves to the waiting list allows us to gauge the demand and potentially increase the number of members on a session or split the session across two locations.
David Gravett - Membership Coordinator
Nether Hall Wood
As reported last month the sub-group’s plan is now available on the web site, so please take a look, there are lots of varied opportunities if you are looking to get more involved in managing a woodland over and above the thinning we carry out.
Many of the plan items are progressing well, but community engagement & communication and how we tell everyone what we are doing has proved a bit of a challenge. Getting the message right is important and using social media at this stage was considered too risky for fear of adverse comments etc.
Helen Carpenter suggested contacting the local scout leader to engage them and by default start spreading the word with a good cause behind it. We have contacted the Hartshorne scout leader who is very excited and enthusiastic about working with us, so watch this space for opportunities to work with various age groups in the scouting group from Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorer Scouts.
Anyone who would like to be more involved please email
Kevin Banton - Nether Hall Wood Chair
Heartwood HQ
We have been looking at planning the working party days for the year ahead. Adding specific days into the calendar for craft days including making bird boxes, besoms, charcoal, greenwood crafts and later in the year the Christmas items. We are hoping some of our members who make items with greenwood will show and share their skills so others can have a go, we will put all these dates on the website. There are a lot of crafts that members have shown an interest in and a list of these can be found on the website under HQ Activity Ideas from the Members Menu. There are more activities listed that we can plan over the summer months, if there is a activity that you would like to do please let use know.
The list of tasks to be completed at HQ are on the website and of course always the chance to learn how to make charcoal, don’t be afraid to ask if there is anything you would like to learn.
The task of maintaining the track up at HQ has recently had a lot of work, thank you to the group who took this task on. It means that we can get the ATV up to base during the wet weather.
If you are interested in being more involved at Heartwood HQ don’t hesitate to say something, this is an area for members to do other activities other than assisting in the wood fuel activities we do.
Chris Adams - Heartwood HQ Chair
Coppice Training
We will be running two coppice training sessions at Nether Hall wood, one in February and one in March. Each session will be for 6 people, so if you are interested, please email
Some of the places on this training will be for other volunteer groups, so please only apply if you have not done coppice training before and intend getting involved with the coppice management at Nether Hall Wood.
Kevin Banton - Nether Hall Wood Chair
A Big Thank you
I want to bring to the attention of all Heartwood members the sterling work Graham Bowers has carried out.
There are lots of members who do a great deal of work for this group and we all know who they are and continue to thank them, but Graham has been working behind the scenes now for weeks to keep this season on course.
There is far too much detail to go into here, but basically the felling licence at Foxley Wood had been mis-calculated by the Woodland Trust and we were in danger of hitting the legal limits on timber extraction before the end of the season.
Graham has spent hours both on site and on a computer working with the Woodland Trust site manager working through calculations whilst learning on the job how the calculations must be done (this is a legal requirement from Forestry England).
We are now looking safe for the rest of this season and soon for the foreseeable future at Foxley. The skills Graham has developed will also be used at Edwards Wood (HQ) and at Nether Hall Wood when we come to plan the thinning there. Sharing these skills will be something we look at after the season has ended.
Thank you Graham, I know how much of your time and effort this has taken.
Kevin Banton - Heartwood Chair