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In: news

I am delighted to have been promoted to a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters. I am proud to be a Chartered Forester as I believe that the profession needs to be promoted more widely in a positive light, and because I strongly support the importance of the ICFContinue Reading

On:
In: forestry, science, walnut

My forestry research work took me to the USA and Italy looking for the best ways to grow walnut trees for timber.  Foresters in both countries pioneered the planting of nitrogen-fixing trees or shrubs with hardwood trees, where their ability to improve soil fertility for ‘hungry’ species, such as walnut,Continue Reading

On:
In: art, feature

I recently came across a bird’s eye view of the farmland at College Farm in Southern Oxfordshire, before I had designed and started the planting of two new woodlands: Paradise Wood and Neptune Wood. The aerial photograph, taken in 1991, clearly shows that College Farm was an arable desert.  WheatContinue Reading

On:
In: art

I created a pen and ink drawing for the cover of the international journal of forestry research, Forestry, which ran to four issues during 1999. The drawing depicts a sawlog, an oak trunk, a pine branch and an oak seedling.  I think it works particularly well when reversed or asContinue Reading

On:
In: art, forestry

I enjoy drawing and computer-aided design and where this coincides with my love of trees and the countryside I derive extra enjoyment. This is a piece of artwork I produced for a leaflet that I also co-wrote for the charity Woodland Heritage in 2006, on the Establishment of Broadleaves (downloadContinue Reading

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In: feature, science, travel

We spent until 1200 packing up and getting ready to leave Bishkek for our flight to Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s second city. After many complicated discussions we (my companion Peter, our student translator Askar, and me) finally got underway to Manas airport via a taxi. We arrived early with four hours to spare. The only interesting thing to happen was the sudden fall …Continue Reading

On:
In: feature, forestry, trees

In 1995 I took a series of panoramic photos and made sketches to explore how Paradise Wood, the new woodland that I was creating for the Northmoor Trust, would fit in the landscape of the future.  I was developing Paradise Wood as a new woodland and a centre for forestryContinue Reading

On:
In: feature

I met the late environmental broadcaster and writer Roger Deakin (b. February 11th 1943 — d. August 19th 2006) when he came to visit the walnut trials I had established at Paradise Wood in Oxfordshire. He was researching for his book, Wildwood: a journey through trees, which would be hisContinue Reading

On:
In: feature, science, travel

In 1997 I undertook an expedition to Kyrgyzstan with friend and colleague Peter Savill, to collect walnut seeds from the naturally occurring walnut-fruit forests. Stranded in the capital city Bishkek for three days, following the loss of our luggage by the airline somewhere en route in Kazakstan, a frustrating timeContinue Reading

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In: comment, news

I have been working professionally for 18 years this year.  When this dawned on me I was surprised!  As my career continues to develop I find that it is widening beyond my core work as a forestry scientist, and I am interacting more and more with people from completely differentContinue Reading