Tony Kirkham MBE, VMH was on a lecture tour in the Midwest and eastern USA at the Morton Arboretum, Chicago Botanical Garden, and the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago in the state of Illinois, Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis, and Oak Spring Garden in Virginia and was so excited to meet some of the remarkable oak trees in these states.
Woodland Heritage Trustee Adrian Jowitt shows how a desire to use timber, coupled with a simple phone call, led him to the milling of Western Red Cedar in a Devon woodland en route to a more sustainable solution. Here’s one way to use more homegrown timber at home.
When Christian Gaze and I started Gaze Burvill 31 years ago, we had a vision of creating a beautiful collection of outdoor furniture using entirely oak grown in the UK. I was inspired by my one-year course at John Makepeace’s Hooke Park in Dorset where I had learnt about the necessity of adding value to British-grown woods to feed a virtuous cycle of growing and improving our woodlands.
On Thursday, 2nd April 2026, the charity Woodland Heritage launched Open Woods & Workshops, a network of woodlands and workshops hosting open days across the UK throughout June 2026. The initiative enables over 1,000 attendees to see first-hand the role trees and timber can have in our future.
Today Woodland Heritage announces a £238,442 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to create ‘Woodland Heritage Skills’; two years of educational workshops, digital educational assets and collaboration with its members and partners to deliver the charity’s new Open Woods & Workshops initiative.
James Wood, the charity’s demonstration woodland, is more than a plantation of trees to grow fine timber. It is a project that gives back in terms of information and education. Inspired by James Stratton it lives on the kindness of volunteers.
Hailing from Utah in the US, Justin Davies, most widely known as JustinTheTrees, has brought wood culture to hundreds of millions by sharing his adventures with trees and timber. John Orchard speaks with Justin about the concept of species loneliness, the taste of sassafras ice cream and the intense optimism found in bringing people closer to nature.
The people involved in growing trees and using timber can be shy, quiet and modest. Sometimes preferring to spend time with trees, in nature and in workshops.
As a result, the work and skills of brilliant people who are a vital part of the UK's wood culture can be underrepresented and are not often well recognised.
Woodland Heritage is delighted to welcome three new trustees!
Clare O’Reilly, Huw Davies and John Deakin join the board of Trustees of Woodland Heritage. Clare & Huw are co-chairs of the board of trustees and you can learn more about Clare, Huw and John below.
