Stored Chestnut to be felled in February

We intend felling 15-20 stored sweet chestnut stems in February 2011 in order to ascertain the internal quality of the timber. Should the quality be good and with little or no shake we will have more available later. These stored stems result from converting previous coppice stools to single stem trees and date back to between 1980 and 1995. We shall be offering this timber for sale and we are inviting interested parties who wish to view the trees during and after felling to contact us. Milling of timber at our farmyard to your dimensions will be possible after felling has taken place. Anticipated dates for felling will be between 14th and 19th February.

The Wild Boar or The Feral Pig ??

Whilst walking through the woods last August (it was at around 11:00am) we came to the edge of the woodland adjoining the open fields of the neighbouring farm, when my wife suddenly said that there was a dog walking about in the field. Turning to see what she was talking about, we realized that this was not a dog but a boar. The boar calmly crossed the field in front of us at a distance of about 70 metres before disappearing back into the woods. It was in no hurry and was just ambling along without seemlingly, a care in the world. I tend to think that he simply didn´t see us, as boar don´t have good eyesight and that perhaps the wind direction had not given us away. Since that time I´ve found out that there are quite a few boar in this region of Kent and they are seemingly breeding sustainably. Cutler´s Wood borders farmland but also borders Kings Wood and other woods, together making up over 2000 acres of woodland offering ideal habitat for boar. Whether this boar was truly wild in the sense of European wild boar that have always been wild or whether domestic ancestors had some part in his existence we shall never know. Wild Boar or Feral Pig ? Whatever their credentials I welcome them as extra (and historically natural) diversity to the woods. They may do some damage by rooting around but deer cause damage too and most people accept that deer belong to the countryside, even though control of numbers is necessary. We may, in the absence of natural predators, one day have to control numbers of boar too but they belong here just as deer do (maybe more so than deer, as fallow, sika and munjac deer were all introduced to Britain).

Timber Sales

We are currently offering 6 acres of sweet chestnut coppice as standing timber to be sold in cants of 1 acre. Age is around 15-18 years since last rotational cut.
We are also offering several acres of mixed broadleaf woodland to be sold as standing timber for the firewood market. This will be mixed hornbeam, ash, birch and chestnut.
Felling of both of the above to commence in January 2011.
Access in woods is good by 4WD and loading at roadside is good for all types of vehicles.
Crane loading is no problem.
Storage is available for 1 year after felling, either in woods or at our farmyard.