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Out with the old, in with the new

Conservation trainees learning in a woodland by Josie Affleck

Josie says hello and goodbye to her trainee teammates and gets to grips with fencing strainers...

Some of our roving volunteers may have noticed the conservation trainees have changed their appearance substantially…and multiplied.

Recently the Trust has said goodbye to three trainees - Jess, Jack and Derren - as they venture off and continue their career in nature conservation. I have learnt a lot from them in the past six months and have enjoyed learning to use (and nickname) our chainsaws as well as felling trees, the many fencing jobs and Andy trusting us to complete jobs without him. I wish them every success in the future and hope they come to roving sessions soon! From tree egg to barnacle goose, as folklore would say.

Starting on 2nd April, we released FIVE new trainees onto the nature reserves of Worcestershire - Sophie, Lizzie, Sam, Joe and Owen. I'll let them introduce themselves to you in their upcoming blogs.

Now I'm the “senior trainee”, I've recently been leading a few roving parties, particularly at The Devil’s Spittleful and Dropping Well Farm, whilst reserve officers are leading other groups or busy meeting important people. I'm doing my best to set a good example for the new trainees, of course, as all five came out on their first roving day to The Devil’s Spittleful, moving turfs to spread heather seed, cutting back the invasive broom and moving felled tree logs.

2 people using metal poles as strainer posts for a fence in a woodland

Using metal H strainer posts by Josie Affleck

We’ve been completing the yearly task of deer fencing the coppice areas (coups) at Hornhill Wood, a site we help manage. Previous trainees have completed deer fencing using a different method. For example, different kinds of ‘strainer’ posts are used to secure fencing and allow it to be tensioned and you can also use different spacings between fence posts (3m or 4m). In the past, the strainer posts used have been wooden but this year Andy B has decided to create the strainers with large metal posts, as these will last longer and be stronger, whilst we use wooden posts for the sides of the coup.

We were also lucky enough to be able to get all the posts up with the Land Rover and trailer now we've had some dry weather and the track is in better condition (this saves us having to carry everything to site).

We fence off coppice coups from deer at sites like Hornhill to prevent them eating the new growth to a level that the coppiced trees (stools) cannot regrow. Coppice stools are particularly vulnerable in the first two years and roots of coppice species, such as hazel, only contain an amount of sugar to regrow once or twice. To keep different amounts of coverage and light levels within a forest, we can create different habitats for a range of species, from dormice to butterflies. Hornhill also has a layer of ancient oak trees that create good habitat for woodpeckers and other nesting birds and is home to plants that indicate ancient woodland, such as bluebells and wood spurge.

A woodland on a sunny day - the foreground has lots of sun and fewer/coppiced trees whereas the background has lots of coppice growth and less sun is reaching the floor

Coppiced area by Josie Affleck

I'm sure another trainee will show you our finished work...

With a degree in forestry and conservation, Josie hopes to pursue a career in the sector. She joined the Trust as a trainee to further develop her practical skills.

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