I owe a big thank you to the forestry team of The National Trust who have helped me immensely during book research undertaken for The Forest Guides of Wales and England.
Today I had the pleasure of visiting The National Trust’s Ebworth Estate near Stroud in the Cotswolds, donating a signed copy of The Forest Guide Wales to the trust’s new Woodland Library.
I met with Matt Stanway, Trees and Woodland Advisor for National Trust properties across Southwest England and Wales. I enjoyed a personal tour of the nascent library, and a productive meeting where we were joined by Head of Trees and Woodlands, John Deakin. Matt and I then enjoyed a spectacular walk in spring sunshine through the woods.
Ebworth is a stunning estate. A cluster of renovated farm buildings, built using the distinctive local honey-coloured stone, is surrounded by high quality stands of beech, often with vigorously growing yew and holly in the understorey. The magnificent Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods National Nature Reserve lies at the heart of the estate. Much of the wood was renamed Workman’s Wood in memory of John Workman OBE, passing ownership to the trust on his death in 2008. John Workman’s family had owned the woodland for generations, and he had been a forestry advisor to the National Trust for 50 years. He was a much respected forester and early adopter of close to nature silviculture.
I have other links with the Ebworth Estate through my work with Sylva Foundation, a charity I co-founded in 2009. Staff and students at the Sylva Wood School have made a collection of stunning furniture using ash timber harvested from Ebworth – read more.
The Forest Guide: Wales
A guide to exploring 325 of Wales’s most scenic, wildlife-rich and historically significant woodlands.
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