The Charcoal Weekend

We recently ran a working holiday weekend where we enlisted the help of an enthustiastic group of individuals visiting the Dudmaston estate. Our main task was to thin out an area of woodland to improve the growth of the remaining trees, open up the canopy to allow more light onto the woodland floor and provide some wood for charcoal making. We also demonstrated the traditional method of timber extraction or 'tushing' with the aid of Buster a black fell pony.

After enjoying an evening of jazz music and a picnic outside Dudmaston hall we started the second day with a stroll through the Dingle to the charcoal kiln leaving Mike to do the remainder of the timber extraction with the forwarder. Following a talk from Richard on charcoal making with stacked and lit the kiln before pressing on with the thinning!

Photos provided courtesy of volunteer Graham Monks - Thanks!

Farewell and Welcome to Volunteers

We recently said farewell to our two full-time volunteers Adam Stirling and Rob Speed from Harper Adams College who have returned to complete their course in Countryside Management. We thank them for their hard work over the last year and wish them all the best in their studies. Here is a photo from the farewell BBQ!

Below: Andy Perry our new full-time volunteer has now started with us and will be assisting rangers Mike and Richard with their work. Andy completed a Countryside Management course last year and is here to gain some valuable work experience in the field.

From Tree to Tea Room!

Here is an example of how timber from the Dudmaston estate gets turned into usable products for the National Trust. The top picture shows a selected tree being felled, in the middle you can see the timber being milled at the estate yard and below the finishing touches are being made.

Recently we have produced a new door between the tea room and the stable courtyard, some parking bollards and gate posts.

Tackling the Rhododendron...

Local volunteer group the Wolverhampton National Trust Conservation Volunteers (WNTCV) have been working on the Dudmaston Estate to clear the undergrowth around Seggy Pool in Comer Wood. Most of this work has been removing invasive Rhododendron to open up views of the pool and clear the ground to allow natural regeneration.

Rhododendron is an introduced species that was once planted extensively in Britain for its ornamental value and for game cover. It is a poor plant for biodiversity however as it has spread out of control in many places at the expense of native vegetation. This is bad news for our plants and the species they support.

We are also coppicing the alder trees around Seggy Pool to use as timber and sustainable fuel.

New Playground at Dudmaston!

The reopening of Dudmaston Hall has been accompanied by the opening of a brand new children's playground, situated opposite the orchard car park. The playground is comprised of; balance beams, a basket swing, toddler swings, a wendy house, a play tower, benches, and mag posts for the youngsters. The playground has been a great success with the children so far and we have seen many families enjoying a picnic on the benches situated close by.

All of us from the Dudmaston Estate hope it will continue to be enjoyed by the public so please come and experience the new addition to the Estate for yourself.

Snowdrop Walks 2011

This year the snowdrop walks commenced on the weekends of the 5th-6th and 12th-13th in February. On both the weekends the Dingle played host to the main snowdrop walk. With having a hard winter the snowdrops held back on the first weekend from flourishing into full bloom, however on the second weekend the snowdrops had arrived in vast numbers and looking to its best. All the visitors on the first weekend enjoyed what the Dingle had to offer even though the elements were against them, all visitors were given entrance passes to revisit on the second weekend due to this. Recently the Dudmaston team has been planting snowdrops in various places around the Estate to spread the general population into places where they would not usually grow to improve the asthetic value for the coming years. We also dug up and potted snowdrops so that the visitors could add a little of Dudmaston to their own gardens. This proved to be a great hit as over the two weekends the Dudmaston Forestry team gained a valuable sum of money to help the department. Overall the two weekends were a great success and proved to be well worth while and we all hope that with further planting, next year will be even more successful.  

Planting at Dudmaston Estate

At the end of every year at Dudmaston Estate, the planting of new trees begins to hopefully form new areas of woodland. The first thing to do is to establish which site needs to be cleared ready for planting. In Dudmaston's case it was an area of land up on the heath also known as compartment 3. To clear the site we called upon our trustee WNTCV ( Wolverhampton National Trust Conservation Volunteers) to get the job done. Clearing a site involves making enough ground space to be able to dig a small hole into the soil so that you can plant the trees. After the site is cleared the planting can begin. The reason for planting in the first place is to regenerate areas of woodland that have been clear felled because contractors have extracted wood from that compartment. Because Dudmaston operate as an outlet for timber its important that we plant trees to put back in what we've taken out, this is why planting is so important. Also when we plant tree's your eligible for grants that are given out by the Forestry Commission which help support some of the cost of planting and maintaining the new site.

This shows some of the site at the start of planting. As you can see from the picture every line of tree's is set approximately 2.6 metres away from the next. The direction of the line is straight but  horizontal to the road. The reason for slightly offsetting the line is to make it look as natural as possible when the woodland begins to grow. Each Tree has a tree guard to protect from animals such as rabbits which would eat all of the new trees if they were not covered, these guards also act as a wind break and protect the new tree's form the elements.