Wassail!



 

It has been time to 'wassail' Dunster Buttercross Community Orchard for the second time since it was planted in 2010 as part of The Crown Estate's 250th anniversary. Wasailing is a traditional blessing ceremony that dates back to saxon times. The aim of it is to drive away bad spirits and encourage good spirits in the hope of a good harvest of apples each year. Children from dunster 1st School joined us for a mini wassail in the morning, singing the traditional wassail song and making lots of noise (it was clear what was the most enjoyable bit!) to scare away the bad spirits. They then brought their parents along for the evening main event, where mulled cider was served to keep everyone warm, and the trees were wassailed again for good measure!

tales from withycombe wood

In a similar vein to the recent BBC 4 programme, Tales from the Wildwood, the Dunster estate volunteers have recently begun the process of getting one of our most wildlife rich woods, Withycombe Wood, back into management, and they will hopefully be getting some useful produce out of it too- including pea sticks, hurdles and even charcoal.
They will be using traditional coppicing techniques to manage the stands of hazel in the wood, as well as continuing to monitor for some of the area's iconic wildlife species- such as the Dormouse.
Though the volunteers will continue to do other tasks, Withycombe Wood will be the regular place we come back to, and it will be great for them to get to know the wood through the seasons.
Watch this space for further updates on the work of the volunteers in Withycombe Wood.

New community facilities for Withycombe

Planning permission has recently been granted by West Somerset Council for 3 dwellings (one affordable, local needs), a community Car Park, Play area and amenity space in Withycombe. The new community facilities are much needed by the village, and it was felt that the proposed dwellings would not only be in keeping and keep environmental impact to a minimum, but would also meet identified local needs. It is hoped that construction will begin as soon as possible.

xmas tree oh xmas tree

It is that time of year again, and we have been involving local school children in our xmas trees. Last friday we showed students from the West Somerset Community College around one of our xmas tree plantations and they were able to select a nice 14ft tree for their main assembly hall. Today we were out again with pupils from Minehead Middle School on the annual 'xmas tree pull', whereby an entire year group form the school walk from the school up to Hopcott heath and help us to manage some of the invasive conifer trees that take root there- and they get to take home the trees they collect. Lots of smiling faces, despite the prickles!

We are also selling xmas trees again from our new office this year, so come and get yours quick! Call the office on 01643 821309 or visit us at Sea Lane, Dunster Marsh near Minehead.

ash dieback info for visitors

Following recent outbreak of ash dieback please take note of the points in the poster attached when visiting to avoid risk of spreading disease. Thank you

Volunteering on Dartmoor

I have recently volunteered as an army cadet civilian assistant in my spare time. This means that I get to help lead expeditions and bushcraft sessions for the cadets, but don't have to attend regular drill nights. This last weekend I was able to take some time off from my usual Crown Estate duties to help take a group of cadets from Minehead and Cannington Platoons to Okehampton Camp on the edge of Dartmoor to do silver Duke of Edinburgh and 2 star expedition training. We spent 2.5 days doing navigation, camping, hill skills and a bit of camp craft thrown in for good measure. Though we had an enjoyable but challenging 27K route planned to take in some of the higher tors, we had a couple of injuries, and so had to cut it short to just 15K. We had two relatively dry nights of camping however, and, despite it feeling like mid-winter on sunday, as you can see from the picture the sun shone for at least the start of the walk! Though this is an extra-curricular activity of mine, The Crown Estate allows staff a couple of days a year to undertake a range of volunteer activities- some people read with school children, others run football teams- I choose to get wet and tired on the moors of the south west! Andy Player

New Office update

New office move date: 3rd-5th July.