Ancient Coppicing

Today I had arranged to meet two ex school friends (note I have not used the word 'old' there) at a pub in Wormley Woods near Hertford. On arrival it had been converted into a house - memories of going there as teenagers were thwarted as we tried to find somewhere to eat.

The extensive ancient woodland in this area would have been coppiced for charcoal and wood for fencing but sadly it is no longer practiced.

Here you can see a stool, where the coppiced shoots have grown into mature trees - this is known as overstood.
Unfortunately the dense woodland this creates does not lend itself to biodiversity and the woodland floor tends to be lacking in plants and other young trees due to the lack of light.

So there you go a short essay on woodland, we had a super lunch at the Baker Arms at Bayford and talked for hours !!

Quiz night tonight - catch y'all laters x