The Copps are Coppicing

despite the continuing freeze there are magical signs of spring – the brave little snowdrops are a welcome sight – the eruption of mole hills less so. Progress on the bbq has been hampered by the weather but is finally finished - we are hoping to build a bbq off each deck to replace the portable ones. It’s a double joy for me as we are using up piles of surplus bricks.

With all the decks needing cleaning Peter ordered me a new toy –haven’t managed to get a go yet! Last year Carey (our stalwart machinist) and I scrubbed all the decks by hand – with over 5000 sq feet of decking it’s a killer so we are delighted with this bit of kit - but notice who is still on the end of a broom!

Peter and I set off to hunt for suitable poles to make the A frame of the Safari tent – you’d think with 45 acres of mixed woodland this would have been easy but we were struggling to find long, straight poles of the right diameter until we remembered the hazel coppice – we have about 4 acres that was planted around 20 years ago but hasn’t been managed for many years – I can’t think why we haven’t got stuck into this before – it’s brilliant fun – the wood is divided into areas called coups and you cut down all the multi stemmed trunks (called stools) in one coup and then wait 7 years and do it all again. It feels like bite sized forestry work – have a look at http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/section/3754 for more information. I really think we must have a go at the charcoal burning soon as the burner is sitting there looking all forlorn.

Bookings for holidays are well up on last year and as usual, after a quiet few months we’ve had a flurry of enquiries for yurt sales -better put get that coppicing done quick.