signs of spring

when out in our semi natural oak woodland, Withycombe Scruffets recently I stopped to watch wood ants building a nest. It was fascinating to watch, and surprisingly noisy as they went about their business of moving first the Queen and the grubs, and then the workers building the colony around them. It is just one of the first signs of spring that I will be reporting back on over the next few weeks, and thanks to the glorious weather that we have been fortunate enough to be enjoying- lets hope that this is not our summer! Andy Player, Countryside Manager

New office update

The new office is really starting to take shape- the shell is nearly complete and electrics all plumbed in (if I can use that term!). We should be abel to start the migration across in a couple of weeks so at long last we are nearly there! watch this space for more updates.

New Forest Office update

The ball is well and truly rolling with the new Dunster estate forest office! Wedgewood Buildings, our contractors have been on site for a couple of months now doing the ground works, but in the last week or so the buidling has started to shoot up. This photo was taken yesterday, and I suspect by the end of the week that the roof will be on and possibly even tiled- very rapid.

Forest Operations Feb 2012

We are currently thinning the woodland in the Longcombe area of the forest- see map. Thinning enables the remaining trees to grow bigger, and lets light into the forest floor. It also generates timber to go to UK timber mills for making a wide range of wooden produce. Please observe any signs or directions given on site, keep your dog under close control at all times when near a work site and do not get too close to working machinery.

Wassailing returns to Dunster after 60 years

Wassailing, the traditional blessing of orchards, returned to Dunster after an absence of 60 years, on the 17th January. In the morning pupils from Dunster 1st School joined us for a mini wassail, where bread soaked in apple juice was hung from some of the trees, we read out the Dunster wassail song, and then made lots of noise to scare away evil spirits!

In the evening, we returned to the orchard for the main event, and over 100 people joined in the festivities and helped us to ensure a healthy crop of apples for the following year- not bad for the first attempt!

Due to the success of our first wassail, it will form a regular part of the estate events calendar, so keep an eye on this (at www.dunsterestate.co.uk/events) for more details.

Volunteers build wildlife hide

Dunster Estate volunteers have been busy building a new widlife hide over the summer, deep in the forest, so that people can better enjoy seeing deer, badgers, birds of prey and all the other wildlife on the Dunster estate. The hide is being constructed using materials taken from the forest, and should be a simple but effective way of viewing wildlife- certainly we have seen plenty of Fallow deer as we have been building it!

It is not yet ready for unveiling so watch this space for more details of how we are getting on, and where you can find it.