The ground was frozen and the air was thick with fog this morning as we set out on our annual walk with Steve Vessey, the estate’s forestry advisor. The trees were silhouetted in ominous black against the mist, and it was hard to picture the green and leafy canopies of the Summer months. Nonetheless, we cast our imaginations to future decades as we considered our woodlands.

With biodiversity and sustainability at the forefront of our minds, the creation of habitats was at the forefront of our conversation. By coppicing some outlying woodland trees such as alder, hazel and ash, breeding grounds for butterflies will be created. By leaving our old and twisted Elder trees, we encourage Willow Tits, who create holes in the rotting wood to nest in. By allowing brambles and thorny cover to grow over swathes of the ground, songbirds have a refuge from predators, turtle doves are encouraged and, curiously, we are seeing that squirrel damage to trees is lessened.

New planting will see a large array of tree species inserted into existing hedgerows, further increasing biodiversity. With subsidies available for planting Cricket Bat Willow, we plan to plant a number along our stream. Even though the Willows are a monoculture, after 7 years of growth our sheep will be able to graze amongst them, and their leaves have medicinal effects including being a natural antiseptic and parasite deterrent.

We are looking forward to seeing this new phase of biodiversification in action and will keep this page updated on any developments, although of course, they will be slow ones.