woodlandheritage.org

Our 2013 Field Weekend will be to Oxfordshire in June, Friday 21st June to Sunday 23rd June.   Visits to Blenheim Park, Shelswell Estate plus an Arboretum visit.

Friday 21st June

- Blenheim Park, Woodstock.

By kind invitation of His Grace The Duke of Marlborough. 

The whole day will be spent in the woodlands and park which forms part of the Blenheim Estate. We will be shown round by Paul Orsi, a Chartered Forester and Rural Enterprises Manager at Blenheim Palace.

Blenheim Palace is set in 2,100 acres of beautiful parkland landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown, and surrounded by sweeping lawns, formal gardens and a magnificent lake. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains 100 ha of wooded SSSI. It has been owned by successive Dukes of Marlborough since 1730.

The Estate has substantial areas of commercial woodland, much of it Oak, as well as ornamental parkland containing many veteran trees. The tour will consist of stops to discuss management of veteran trees, and the “Great Avenue”, management of Oak stands and how they grow in relation to soil type, Larch/Beech mixtures, an update on Acute Oak Decline, certification policy of the Estate, and the performance of a possible future
plantation species, Cedar, where there is an interesting stand to examine.

Saturday 22nd June

- Shelswell Estate, near Bicester

By kind invitation of Baron and Baroness von Maltzahn.

The whole day will be spent at this private estate in the company of Baron von Maltzahn.
Shelswell Park is a traditional country Estate and consists of arable farmland, mature parkland and some 450 acres of woodland.

The Estate was bought in 1782 by Gilbert Harrison, an ancestor of the present owners. Much of what exists today is the legacy of the improvements to properties, parkland and woodland that he and his descendants carried out. The woodland is actively managed for fuel grade woodchips for Bio Energy, high quality sawn timber and firewood. Grey squirrel control is taken very seriously.

We will be shown some middle-aged plantations including a Sweet Chestnut/Spruce mixture, and Sycamore, Oak and Larch plantations. After lunch, we will visit some older plantations including some very fine Oak and stored Sweet Chestnut coppice.

Sunday 23rd June (a.m. only)

- Arboretum visit

Details have yet to be confirmed, but we hope to visit either Lord Heseltine’s arboretum at Thenford near Banbury, or Oxford University’s arboretum at Nuneham Courtenay, just south of Oxford.

Members and their guests will be very welcome. 

To book, please contact Woodland Heritage on 01428 652159 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Click here to download full details.

Looking at new ways of valuing the UK’s forests. Event organised by the Royal Forestry Society and the RASE, held at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire on 23/04/2012.

VALUING TREES & WOODLANDS – a new understanding of their true worth

Experts from across the forestry and woodlands industry will be speaking at a one-day conference organised by the Royal Forestry Society and the Royal Agricultural Society of England to look at new ways of valuing the UK’s woodlands and forests.

The NDG James Memorial Event at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire on 23 April 2012 will also examine how the new valuations might generate benefits for owners, managers, society and the woodlands themselves.

RFS Chief Executive Dr John Jackson said: “A raft of substantive, thought provoking and far reaching reports have appeared recently on how we value the UK’s woodlands and forests. This event will appeal to a wide variety of people whose lives deal with trees, including owners, managers, financiers, ecologists, landscapers, and from the private, state and NGO sectors.”

The conference will cover:

• traditional valuations of woodlands and timber
• putting a price tag on ecosystem services, such as biodiversity
• woodfuel – do the figures stack up
• flood alleviation
• recreation and landscape
• the concept of “natural capital”
• carbon trading and forestry bonds
• is forest investment a safe bet
• grants – are they value for money?

Speakers will include specialists from the Forestry Commission, Woodland Trust, CLA, National Forest Co, Forest Carbon, Arboricultural Association, Cleggs, Savills and the RFS. Short case studies will be provided by a range of practitioners.

FC Chair, Pam Warhurst, will lead the Plenary.

Full details are on the RASE website at www.rase.org.uk.