A Wonderful Winter Walk... with one exception!

Today I ventured over to Silk Wood to see how some of the Tree Team were getting on with essential tree safety work, which reassuringly was being carried out to a high standard as always.

I was also pleased to see that other team members together with volunteers had resurfaced parts of our rustic woodchip path network, using safely processed material from our very own on-site woodchip pasteurisation unit.

I bumped into two of our independent coppice workers nearby, busy tending to the freshly cut hazel stools in one of their coups.

Large parts of Silk Wood have been managed for hazel coppice with oak standards over hundreds of years, and it can be a rare pleasure these days to see people managing such woodland in the traditional way.

If you look closely, you may even see the coppicers putting the cut hazel to a variety of different uses depending on the thickness of the stems.

I believe that we are very lucky to have wooded areas to enjoy at Westonbirt, as well as the contrasting open space of the downs and landscaped parts of the arboretum.

It was beautiful out in Silk Wood but I was very sad to find lots of discarded plastic dog poo bags and surprisingly even some abandoned bags full of dog waste and tied.

It’s in everyone’s best interests to keep the whole arboretum tidy, so that the magic of the place can be enjoyed by all.

But it is also a working environment and looked after by a small and dedicated team, and it is not very pleasant for them to stumble across dog waste during a working day.

I would kindly ask visitors to help us to look after the arboretum, by just popping poo bags in the bins provided.