The Woodland Resource

Wood, a material from trees, grown by the energy of the sun, is the beginning of all crafts and trades. Without wood the blacksmith could not have forged tools, or have handles to hold the tools by. Potters, tanners and glassmakers all needed wood or wood products for their trades.

History

In fact, our world relied on wood and its uses until the Industrial Revolution in the late eighteenth century. The arrival of coke and, in particular, plastics in the 1950s lead to the demise of many woodland crafts – their role was now outdated. Why carve a bowl out of wood when one can be moulded in plastic every five seconds on a production line? Our oil-based economy has led us blindly towards a faster, more sterile world where individuality and creativity has been bulldozed for rapid production and economic gain with little consideration for the long-term environmental impact.

Woodland crafts originate from a time of need where the skills of the woodsman ensured a ready supply of material to meet the daily needs of life, whether on the farm or in the home. I am not romanticising the past. One only has to look at the picture from Herbert Edlin’s Woodland Crafts in Britain, which I refer to as ‘the broken man’ because of the extreme difficulty of the task he performs. Woodland crafts fortunately no longer ask us to hollow out the end grain of elm logs with an auger to make up water pipes. Such jobs, although needing skill, strength and accuracy, clouded the lines between creativity and drudgery.

After the Second World War many of the coppiced woodlands in the UK fell into decline and the main supply of the raw materials needed for woodland craft was under threat. Returning home from the war, many who had previously worked in the woods moved into the construction industry to rebuild damaged cities, leaving the coppice woods neglected. Those that entered the woods now were coming from a different approach, that of industrial forestry. They were concerned with producing saw logs and pulpwood predominantly from fast- growing softwoods. The beginnings of this change go back further to the founding of the Forestry Commission in 1919, which was set up to produce more home-grown timber after the First World War. The Forestry Commission has gone a long way towards succeeding in this goal but in doing so has planted a large number of coniferous monoculture plantations on ancient woodland sites.

Now their policy has changed, and conifer plantations are being removed from ancient woodland sites. In many cases the ground flora seedbank has shown good ability to recover, but in some the acidification and shade of the coniferous plantation have negatively affected the biodiversity of the woodland. The growth of interest in continuous-cover forestry seems to offer the best alternative to producing good-quality timber and moving away from the clearfell plantation regimes that are still the dominant forestry pattern in the UK.

Woodland craft materials

The selection of crafts in this book is a mixture of traditional and modern but they all have one main common thread, which is that they are made from green, freshly cut wood.

Poles and prunings straight from the woods form the raw material of woodland crafts. These, together with a selection of specialist tools and handmade devices can help you to discover the world of the woodland craftsman. The enjoyment found in making a chair for your house, crafted with your own hands, an object to enjoy and pass on to future generations is high up in the woodland ‘tree of satisfaction’. But to reach the crown of that tree, you must venture into the woods and understand the management and vitality of the raw material you are working with. Labour with love and passion as you work through the cold months of winter, cutting the raw materials to make that chair. It is here in the woods that the woodland craft journey should begin.

Sourcing materials responsibly

There are many sources that can produce the material needed for the projects in this book. Thinnings from broadleaf plantations, stems cut out from hedge laying – or in the city, the variety of different timbers pruned by tree surgeons.

All of these can, and should, be used but it is coppice management and the materials it produces that these crafts have evolved from. By sourcing your materials from a well-managed coppice wood, you will be ensuring that the materials are there for future generations. You can find details of where to find local coppiced material on page 209. If you are looking for raw materials to make your craft and do not have the time to cut your own, your local coppice worker is likely to be your most sustainable outlet.

Woodland management

As I write this it is autumn, the chestnuts are falling from the trees and the rich colours are warming the dewy mornings in the woods. Soon the leaves will fall and once more I will begin my woodland year and head out to cut the coppice. This process, now ingrained in me, is the start of the management cycle that produces the raw materials for these crafts.

Coppicing is the term used to describe the successional cutting of broadleaf woodland during the dormant winter period. In spring, when the sap rises, the stump (known as the stool) sends up new shoots, which are grown on for a number of years until they reach the desired size. They are then cut again during winter and the process repeats itself. The wood cut from coppice is known as underwood and has for centuries supplied a variety of products and supported a large workforce, from the cutter to coppice merchant and craftsman to purchaser.

Coppiced wood is a valuable crop and when managed well can sustain more people per acre than any of the modern forestry alternatives. It is also a sustainable pattern of management, rarely needing any replanting, so the soil is not disturbed and therefore not subject to the risk of erosion. Nutrients are returned mainly through the annual leaf fall. Coppicing creates a cyclical habitat and a unique ecosystem, and is one of the few patterns of symbiosis known in nature where humans are an important part of the relationship. In a well-managed coppice, the stools are closely spaced, from about 4–6ft (1.2–1.8m) apart and the ground is fully shaded by the leaves and coppice shoots. When it is cut, sunlight pours in, dormant seeds waiting for light emerge and different birds, animals and insect life move into the newly created habitat. Many rare species such as dormice and many types of butterflies are dependent on the coppicing system.

At Prickly Nut Wood the coppice is mainly sweet chestnut; some areas are pure coppice but the majority contain a proportion of standard trees. There are also areas of mixed coppice with standards (large trees growing above the coppice covering a maximum of 15 per cent of the canopy). Oak is the main standard tree with hazel, ash and field maple forming the coppice layer that has been restored from a neglected state and has now re-established a diverse ground flora. This includes a range of key food plants in the life cycle of many butterflies.

Coppicing is currently undergoing a revival and its value as an important landscape feature for social, ecological and commercial value is at last being seen.

The basics of successful coppice management

• Cut a minimum of 1⁄3 acre (0.135 hectare). Any less will not allow enough light in for good-quality regrowth. A larger area is preferable.
• Leave a few standard trees if they exist, or encourage new ones. A coppice with standards is more diverse than pure coppice.
• If there are lots of standards, reduce the canopy cover to 10–15 percent. This will allow enough light to ensure
• the coppice regenerates well.
• Leave some standing deadwood for wildlife habitat.
• Deer will need to be controlled, by fencing or stalking. Increase the stocking rate by replanting or layering.

The resurgence of woodland crafts

Although there is still much work to do to regenerate our coppice woodlands in the UK, the past 25 years have seen a small shift towards their recovery. Some woods untouched for 40 or 50 years are now being reworked and, as a result, the interest in woodland crafts is growing. Who could have imagined that a spoon maker would have a shop in Hackney Road, London, making handmade spoons? Or that an event called Spoonfest in England would attract a sell-out crowd as keen individuals converge to refine their skills under the guidance of a new generation of spoon makers? These makers are not just confined to the UK, with specialist spoon makers arriving from Sweden and further afield to share their particular style of craft.

Roundwood timber framing is also attracting global interest and a surge in people wanting to learn the jointing skills. In the US, chair and rustic-furniture makers are on the increase and although they do not have the historic coppice industry and traditions of the UK, individuals and permaculture designers are planting new coppice woodlands as part of their sustainable designs. The increase in the associated crafts will be a natural progression. Such is the growth of interest in woodland crafts that the variety and diversity, as well as the skill level, are on the increase. Apprenticeships are returning, established makers are training new recruits and the interest in natural building is increasing the demand for shakes, laths and timber frames. My only concern is that with all the positive enthusiasm for making crafts and working wood, the area still needing the most attention is the management of the raw material itself.

This article is an extract from the book Woodland Craft, by Ben Law. You can purchase a copy here