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.

illegal 4x4s

4x4s and motorbikes driving where they are not authorised is a real menace to us, and legitimate users of the forest who are looking to enjoy the tranquility and beauty of the forest- as well as doing damage to sensitive habitats and access routes and posing a risk to people and pets.
We have had a number of sightings recently, and have been able to record registration plates. Being able to gather this sort of info significantly improves our chances of being able to do something about these unwanted visitors as every reported sighting with a registration plate gets passed on to the police.
We are working with the police on their pathwatch scheme, and so as well as reporting illegal 4x4s to us, you can also report them to the police direct at www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/community_safety/pathwatch/

Forests for the future in Dorset

To begin promoting The Crown Estate's new Forests for the future education pack, we visited the Bryanston estate in Dorset on tuesday the 29th November, where the forests are managed from Dunster, and invited 32 children from local schools to join us for a day of forest fun.

Working with George and Maggie Yeomans of Mountain and Bushcraft ways (http://www.guidingonskye.co.uk/) the children built shelters from natural materials, learnt about fire lighting and discovered the importance of trees in toaday's world by playing a number of activities in the pack.

The day was a great success, and provides a template for other events that will follow in the new year- to accompany the offical launch of the resources pack and soon to be completed forests for the future website. The pack is designed to provide teachers with ideas and resources to help teach pupils about trees, wood and the value that they provide to us. Further details on where to obtain a forests for the future pack will follow shortly.

signs of mice

Dunster Estate volunteers Brian and Caroline have found signs of habitation in dormouse boxes erected earlier this year in one of the estate's woodlands, but the rodenty residents are not the intended ones we were hoping for!
Wood mice are making best use of the boxes, with many showing signs of nest building, and four with mice in them at the stime of survey- one with two in!
Birds nests have also been found in the boxes, so, although not dormice, we are very pleased that they are being used, and who knows if it is good enough for wood mice, we might find dormice in there next year?!

Heath Fritillary butterflies found on new site!

We are pleased to report that two more sites on the Dunster estate have been found to be home to healthy populations of the endangered Heath Fritillary butterfly. Rodhuish common and Black Hill, which are managed by one of our tenant farmers, Malcolm Westcott, have both been found to support very healthy populations of this iconic species.

This is especially pleasing as nationally the species is under real pressure, but here at Dunster it seems that we are able to buck the trend and even add new populations. We hope that ongoing coppice management in Withycombe Scruffets native oak woodland, next to one of the sites, will encourage this butterfly, also known as the 'Woodsman's Follwer' back into the wood, as would have been the case up until the end of the first world war, when widespread coppicing ceased across Exmoor.

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.