Wednesday 23 March 2011

Worcestershire Woodin'


After our tree felling course I wanted to learn a little more about coppicing and the history of it. I was recommended to read Worcestershire Woodin' - Hazel woods in a nutshell, the recommendation was biased though as it was from the author!

The book isn't a how-to but more a way things were told by someone who had coppicing in their blood, seven generations had worked and coppiced the same woodlands and Geoff Osborne was to be the last. The book is transcripts of conversations with Mr Osborne about what his family used to do. Talking to Ron and Richard, (the two that put the book together) Mr Osborne had long ago decided that coppicing was a dieing trade and when they asked him questions he said "why do you want to know this? Nobody wants it anymore. It's not needed is it?". They thought it was and managed to record and write these peals of wisdom before they were lost forever.

The book isn't a long read (about an hour), but it's really interesting and has many nuggets of information about coppicing and the way the countryside was in the past. It's told mainly through colourful characters and stories; illustrated with hundreds of photos. This book will sit nicely on my shelf along with my other woodland and woodworking books, a worthwhile read.

3 comments:

  1. Wish I had more of a book budget. It looks like the sort of thing I'd find interesting.

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  2. Hey Avalti, you keep on reading and learning all you can . And one day you will pass the knowledge on and that really is worth doing .
    Brian

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  3. Books are a big vice of mine! At least this type of book is tax deductable for me!

    ReplyDelete

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