0:00:02 > 0:00:05Britain was once an island of trees.
0:00:05 > 0:00:09For 10,000 years, they have shaped our landscapes.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12And we were once a woodland people.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16We managed our forests carefully, cutting and coppicing,
0:00:16 > 0:00:18and they thrived under our care.
0:00:20 > 0:00:21But forestry has changed.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27In the last century plantations have replaced many of our woods.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31Others have been deemed unprofitable and abandoned.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Can they survive in the 21st Century?
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Writer and woodsman Rob Penn believes so.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44Here we go!
0:00:44 > 0:00:46And for the next year he is taking over
0:00:46 > 0:00:51Strawberry Cottage Wood, 50 acres of unmanaged woodland in South Wales.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56Oh, my God. I feel like I'm going into a jungle!
0:00:56 > 0:01:00Can he bring this forgotten forest back to life again?
0:01:02 > 0:01:06After two months in the woods the seasons are beginning to change.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10It was down to minus ten, people are saying.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14It is time for Rob to learn the ancient skills of coppicing.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16So is the top of that good enough for a pea stick?
0:01:16 > 0:01:19And discover new markets for his cut timber.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23It is one of the most efficient fuels in the world.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Can he recruit enough help to get through the coldest months
0:01:26 > 0:01:29and bring his wood under control?
0:01:29 > 0:01:32We've impacted one quarter of an acre and there are
0:01:32 > 0:01:35acres and acres and acres of untouched woodland down there.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49It's November in South Wales.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53The leaves have fallen and the ground is wet with rain.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Rob has been working in Strawberry Cottage Wood for eight weeks now
0:01:56 > 0:01:59and his life has adjusted to the new routine.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Winter has arrived, the weather has turned, pretty ferocious,
0:02:04 > 0:02:07there's a mean wind out of the north-west blowing.
0:02:07 > 0:02:13It's very cold and I'm taking a bucket of feed over to the pigs.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15I've been in the woods for six weeks
0:02:15 > 0:02:20and this has become part of my daily ritual, come rain or shine.
0:02:23 > 0:02:29In October Rob picked up two Tamworth pigs, hoping they would clear an area
0:02:29 > 0:02:32of bracken and brambles along one edge of the wood.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Here little pigs, it's breakfast.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41This ground has been heavily dug up
0:02:41 > 0:02:46and it's like a mire in Flanders Fields now.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50Come on, chaps. Up we come.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Oh, my word it's very, very muddy!
0:02:54 > 0:02:59So this was bracken and brambles above head height
0:02:59 > 0:03:03and you can see the extraordinary change that they've already made.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05And it's a very simple process
0:03:05 > 0:03:08of throwing their feed into here.
0:03:08 > 0:03:14And they root and scramble about for their pig rolls
0:03:14 > 0:03:18and thereby trample over
0:03:18 > 0:03:22and tread and churn up this.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25You only have to look at these animals to know how effective
0:03:25 > 0:03:29they're going to be in here. 600 kilos of Rotavator.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32The pigs have cleared an area the size of a tennis court.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34Get in there!
0:03:34 > 0:03:36They are guided by their sense of smell,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39which is a thousand times more sensitive than humans.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43We've used them for centuries to hunt truffles,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46and more recently to sniff out explosives and drugs.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49We're not doing anything original here.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52The ancestors of these pigs would have worked in British woodlands
0:03:52 > 0:03:56for at least a thousand years.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00In a sense they are designed for this job,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03for rooting on the forest floor.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14In the heart of Strawberry Cottage wood,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18the bare branches allow sunlight to hit the woodland floor.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21For the first time, Rob can see out of the trees.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26What causes the transformation in the wood this time of year
0:04:26 > 0:04:28is the sap falling.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32So the leaves come off the trees, they tumble down to the ground
0:04:32 > 0:04:34and the sap is in retreat to the heart of the tree.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37The tree is preparing itself for winter
0:04:37 > 0:04:40and this is call to arms for the woodsman.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43The winter is the time for industry in the woods.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51If Rob is to make this woodland work, the next four months are critical.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Now is the time when timber can be harvested
0:04:54 > 0:04:56and the heavy work carried out.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00So when I took over this wood at the end of summer
0:05:00 > 0:05:03I didn't really know what was here, so thick was the canopy,
0:05:03 > 0:05:07and so dense was the vegetation, but at this time of year
0:05:07 > 0:05:10the character of the woodland begins to reveal itself.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14So what I discovered is that there is a lot of this - hazel coppices
0:05:14 > 0:05:19and there are also a lot of standards, big old growth oak
0:05:19 > 0:05:24and ash trees and that suggests that the wood was managed using
0:05:24 > 0:05:27a system called coppice with standards.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31A woodland management system that has been popular in Britain
0:05:31 > 0:05:32since the Middle Ages.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Coppice with standards allows big standard trees such as oak
0:05:37 > 0:05:41to grow tall and supply large amounts of high quality timber.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45In between these are smaller trees such as hazel
0:05:45 > 0:05:48which are cut back or coppiced more regularly
0:05:48 > 0:05:50and their wood used for fuel.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54Perfected over centuries, this technique allowed
0:05:54 > 0:05:58a permanent forest to exist whilst providing a never-ending supply
0:05:58 > 0:06:00of woodland products to the community.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06But in the 21st century, our coppicing only continues
0:06:06 > 0:06:08in a few remaining woodlands.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12To learn the skills of a coppice worker,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Rob has come to Westonbirt Arboretum, where Brian Williamson
0:06:16 > 0:06:18has been restoring a much larger hazel wood.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24- Brian, how are you? - I'm very well. How are you?
0:06:24 > 0:06:28- Good morning.- Good.- Welcome to the Westonbirt woods.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Thank you very much. Well, it's lovely to be here.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33So, Brian, how has this happened,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37why has it fallen out of management and turned into this wood?
0:06:37 > 0:06:40It's simple economics really.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44Labour charges went up in the 20th century, cheap plastics,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48mass production came in so you could buy steel products,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51plastic products very cheaply and people stopped buying wood.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53And as soon as you take the money out of it
0:06:53 > 0:06:56there's no reason for people to manage them.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00Our coppiced woods were once the oilfields of Britain.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Since Roman times they have supplied local industries
0:07:02 > 0:07:05with millions of tonnes of charcoal.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Many counties also had their own regional industry.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Sussex supported communities of clog makers.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14Hampshire provided millions of fence posts and gates
0:07:14 > 0:07:17and up until the 1970s, bark from oak coppice
0:07:17 > 0:07:20supported the Cumbrian tanning industry.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Brian and Rob need to find a modern day market for their products.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26But in an abandoned coppice,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29the quality of the timber quickly deteriorates.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33What you've got is nothing but a bit of low value firewood in here.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37For good quality coppice you want straight poles
0:07:37 > 0:07:41because most of the market is in things like hurdling rods,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44binders for hedge laying, steaks for hedge laying, things like that.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47- That's where the money is?- That's where the money in hazel coppice is.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50So you want these straight poles by the hundreds?
0:07:50 > 0:07:51Yes, if not the thousands.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55To create a productive coppice takes many years of cutting.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58The area Brian first cut ten years ago
0:07:58 > 0:08:02is only just returning to its original productivity.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06So what we've got here, Rob, and what we're working on
0:08:06 > 0:08:08- is coppice that we cut six years ago.- OK.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12So when you look at this stool and the stool is basically
0:08:12 > 0:08:15the base of the tree after it's been cut down,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18- you're looking at stems six years old...- Yeah.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20..coming back from the cut stump.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23So you can see how the production is beginning to go up.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25We're getting more rods per stool
0:08:25 > 0:08:27and this'll keep happening every time we cut it.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31The new rods have grown back at almost triple the density.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35But Rob must also learn how each piece of wood can be used.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Good enough for a pea stick... Is the top of that
0:08:39 > 0:08:42good enough for a pea stick? So I've got a piece of hazel now.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44I think, yes, that would probably do.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Just about. Do I want to take it off at about here?
0:08:46 > 0:08:50- Erm...you want about five feet. - Five feet, OK.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53There's an old adage in wood working about keeping everything
0:08:53 > 0:08:56as long as you can for as long as you can,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58because you never quite know what you're going to use it for
0:08:58 > 0:09:01and if you cut it down to length too soon
0:09:01 > 0:09:04you might lose the best use of it.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07My eyes have been opened to the extraordinary variety of products
0:09:07 > 0:09:09that you get out of it.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13There are bean poles, poles for tomato sticks and other stuff.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16You know, material for making hurdles
0:09:16 > 0:09:22and that's all from this area of hazel coppice all cut with that.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Coppicing doesn't just produce timber,
0:09:30 > 0:09:32it also prolongs the life of the tree.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36And at Westonbirt, Brian has the perfect illustration.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42This is coppice management at its best, at its most long lived
0:09:42 > 0:09:47and this lime which is one tree or was one tree,
0:09:47 > 0:09:51- is thought to have been coppiced for around 2,000 years.- Really?
0:09:51 > 0:09:55It's been DNA tested to be a single specimen.
0:09:55 > 0:09:56It could have been a Roman soldier
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- who coppiced this the first time round.- Extraordinary.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02And we're standing in the middle of one tree and look at it.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05It's kind of 20, 30 feet all around us.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09People are always concerned, you cut something down you kill it,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12yet cutting this down repeatedly is what's kept it going
0:10:12 > 0:10:15because lime isn't an especially a long lived tree of its own accord,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18you know, two or three hundred years and yet this one's been going
0:10:18 > 0:10:212,000 years solely because it's been regularly cut.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Gosh, isn't that fantastic?
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Every 25 years since the time of Julius Caesar,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30this tree has been cut down -
0:10:30 > 0:10:32its bark used to make rope,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35its trunk made into scaffolding poles and fence posts.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39And at every cut, the ageing process is reset,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42allowing the tree to continue to grow for two millennia.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48They say that the first conservationists were woodsman
0:10:48 > 0:10:52and that woods were managed sustainably
0:10:52 > 0:10:55long before the word was invented.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Now that's because of the self-renewing property of trees
0:10:59 > 0:11:04and people recognised this long ago that if you manage woods well
0:11:04 > 0:11:07they carried on producing the products that they wanted
0:11:07 > 0:11:11and could use, and that really is at the heart
0:11:11 > 0:11:15of the whole story of woodland management in Britain.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Back in Strawberry Cottage Wood, it is time
0:11:18 > 0:11:20to put Brian's advice into practice.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24And to help him get started, Rob has called in the local woodland group.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26So thank you very much all for coming.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29The job we're going to do today is we're going to coppice
0:11:29 > 0:11:30some of the old hazel stools.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34As you can see they're all very old and haven't been touched for ages.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36It's going to be quite tangly to take down
0:11:36 > 0:11:38but there's plenty of wood in there
0:11:38 > 0:11:40for whatever we propose to do with it afterwards.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44The hazel stools dominate the top part of the wood.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46They have not been touched for over 50 years.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50By coppicing them, Rob will remove the large overgrown stems
0:11:50 > 0:11:54and let new straighter shoots grow up from the base.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02They're doing well, aren't they?
0:12:02 > 0:12:04I'm surprised how fast they've got on with it,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07how quickly we've cleared the patch.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09If we can have all these people everyday,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12we wouldn't be long about it. We'd be out of the wood and gone.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18There are over 750 woodland groups in Britain.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22They manage over 100,000 acres of woodland.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25Many of this group will get their firewood from these stools.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32A huge amount of wood is coming out, so this pile here is all hazel
0:12:32 > 0:12:34and this will be used in due course to make charcoal
0:12:34 > 0:12:37so we're stacking it up here because we're going to bring the kiln
0:12:37 > 0:12:40to this part of the wood, probably to right here,
0:12:40 > 0:12:42this exact spot, I suspect.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46The piles of brash, this is all the top of the hazel coppice
0:12:46 > 0:12:50you can't do much with it. It'll be habitat for birds,
0:12:50 > 0:12:52ground nesting birds at some point
0:12:52 > 0:12:55and then we're beginning to get a clearing.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00So suddenly we've got some sky into the wood.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02So it's beginning to take shape, you know,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06and suddenly it looks like a woodland under management
0:13:06 > 0:13:10for the first time in a very long time, which is very exciting.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25By the end of the day the group has cleared six stools
0:13:25 > 0:13:27and the woodland has changed dramatically.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34But overnight the Welsh winter closes in
0:13:34 > 0:13:37and it's a very different scene the next morning.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47It was an incredibly cold night last night.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50It was down to minus ten people are saying
0:13:50 > 0:13:56and so I'm hoping that a little bit of activity in the wood
0:13:56 > 0:13:58will warm me up nicely.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09There are still over 150 hazel stools in the top part of the wood
0:14:09 > 0:14:12and from now on Rob is working on his own.
0:14:14 > 0:14:20It is extraordinary how much timber comes out of each individual stool
0:14:20 > 0:14:25and in terms of what we plan to coppice in this bit of the wood,
0:14:25 > 0:14:27you know, we've only just begun.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31For the next three weeks Rob must work hard.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35These trees can be a vital source of income.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42November turns into December and after days of blisters
0:14:42 > 0:14:46and aching joints, Rob slowly develops a rhythm to his coppicing.
0:14:54 > 0:15:00If you want to learn about woods you have to get involved.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03You have to work.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07By Christmas, a substantial clearing has been created
0:15:07 > 0:15:11and Rob's work has produced a much larger pile of timber than expected.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16I started making this series to encourage people
0:15:16 > 0:15:18back into woodland management.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21But the reality is if we all produced as much wood as I am
0:15:21 > 0:15:26the market for bean poles and pea sticks or whatever would be flooded.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30I can't help but wonder if there isn't another way
0:15:30 > 0:15:33that we could be using all this wood.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38Finding a modern use for coppice timber is vital
0:15:38 > 0:15:41if Rob is to make money from the wood.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45In Carmarthenshire two men have spent almost a quarter of a century
0:15:45 > 0:15:47trying to solve this puzzle.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52Bill Owens and Richard Edwards manage 65 acres of birch and willow coppice
0:15:52 > 0:15:55outside Llandeilo in West Wales.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57They believe they have found a new role for woodlands
0:15:57 > 0:16:00which otherwise would be neglected.
0:16:00 > 0:16:06The one issue over the next 20 years is all fossil fuels
0:16:06 > 0:16:08are going to increase in price, there's no way
0:16:08 > 0:16:10the price of oil is ever going to come down.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12There's no way the price of gas will come down.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17What we have in place of that is wood which we can use.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Woodlands like Richard's would've once provided the local village
0:16:21 > 0:16:23with firewood and fuel.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27In the 19th century cheap coal and oil replaced these,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29but Richard now believes he's found a way
0:16:29 > 0:16:31to bring wood fuel back into use.
0:16:31 > 0:16:38We have a process here where we're able to produce
0:16:38 > 0:16:42- a completely new type of wood fuel. - OK.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46Which offers real increased efficiencies.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48Wood has been overlooked as a fuel
0:16:48 > 0:16:52because it is heavy to transport and has a low burning temperature.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Richard's idea is that by drying the wood for eight hours
0:16:55 > 0:17:00in a wood fired oven, you can create a lighter and more efficient fuel.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02This is all about taking the water content out.
0:17:02 > 0:17:08You remove the water and it becomes a much more efficient fuel.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12It lights easier, it carries easier
0:17:12 > 0:17:18and you get much more out of it per ton.
0:17:18 > 0:17:23We have probably in the whole of Britain half a million acres,
0:17:23 > 0:17:28at least of unmanaged woodland which is absolutely full
0:17:28 > 0:17:33to the top of small useless round wood.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Here is its end use.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39We haven't any doubt at all that it will end up as a profitable
0:17:39 > 0:17:40end product.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44Richard's idea is that our small woodlands could play a role
0:17:44 > 0:17:47in meeting our future energy demands.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51And by doing so we could bring thousands of acres of neglected wood
0:17:51 > 0:17:53back under management.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55So, this is the end product.
0:17:55 > 0:18:01Yeah. It's had eight hours at a gentle roast
0:18:01 > 0:18:08and we have a product which is wood which has no water in it at all.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14We can test it with the moisture meter
0:18:14 > 0:18:18which will prove the issue that...
0:18:18 > 0:18:22So it's flashing between 0 and 1 and 2%.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27Yeah, it is one of the most efficient fuels in the world.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31Normal seasoned firewood is 25% water.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Richard's drying technique removes this, making it both lighter
0:18:34 > 0:18:36and more efficient as a fuel.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41So the beauty of this whole process is the simplicity.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45The only thing we don't know is just how hot this wood burns.
0:18:45 > 0:18:50- But Dave, Richard's engineer... Dave, how are you doing?- Fine.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52..is going to show me. Can we stick that one on?
0:18:52 > 0:18:55- We'll give it a go.- Fantastic.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58Burning normal hazel like this would create temperatures
0:18:58 > 0:19:01of around 200 degrees centigrade.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04So how hot will this get, Dave?
0:19:04 > 0:19:08- It could get close to 400 degrees C. - What?!
0:19:08 > 0:19:13We try to hold it back because that is getting quite hot.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16- That's phenomenal.- Richard has indeed transformed his coppice
0:19:16 > 0:19:20from waste wood into an almost smokeless super-fuel.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27What's intriguing about this is that it's a return to the way
0:19:27 > 0:19:30that coppice wood has been used for centuries -
0:19:30 > 0:19:33providing local communities with local wood.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Can it work commercially now?
0:19:35 > 0:19:39I just don't know, but certainly I'd like to give it a go in spring
0:19:39 > 0:19:42and see if I can provide my local woodland group with fuel.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53Back in Strawberry Cottage Wood, the coppicing work continues.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55The wood is changing.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58But months working alone is also having an effect on Rob.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Far away from the madness of men.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Months under the canopy is bringing out his inner woodsman.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25They say the proximity of the past is close in woodlands.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30I suppose that's something to do with the fact that
0:20:30 > 0:20:32it hadn't changed in thousands of years.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38And somehow that reconnects us
0:20:38 > 0:20:41with the human matrix...
0:20:44 > 0:20:45..with nature.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Rob is experiencing what many people feel in the woods.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10They are our main lines to nature, places we can escape to.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Whereas once we all lived within them,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15nowadays only a few people remain.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19And they have a unique relationship with the trees.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23Way-hay, hello!
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Iliff Simey has spent 25 years
0:21:26 > 0:21:29living in a cabin in a small woodland in North Wales.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33Rob is here to learn the unique approach to management
0:21:33 > 0:21:35that Iliff has developed.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Oh, my Lord! He's the size of a tree.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42- Iliff.- Dr Livingston, I presume.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44ROB LAUGHS
0:21:44 > 0:21:47- Good morning, sir, nice to meet you. - Come and have some coffee.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51Oh, excellent, thank you very much. What a beautiful piece of wood.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54Iliff's dream has been to restore the natural balance
0:21:54 > 0:21:58that existed here long before humans were around.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02I'm restoring the woodland as a whole, the complete eco-system.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05That's the special feature of this valley,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09it has no economic value but it has an immense value
0:22:09 > 0:22:13as a demonstration of how the natural forest works
0:22:13 > 0:22:17in the British climate. I'm like a doctor or a nurse
0:22:17 > 0:22:21giving a helping hand in restoring the woodland.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25But the woodland should eventually stand on its own feet.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29If we get the conditions right nature will take off.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38Iliff employs a woodsman to carry out work normally done by nature.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40Today he is cutting the branches off a tree
0:22:40 > 0:22:43to leave only the trunk remaining.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48Here, when Paul has cut the top off, what are you left with?
0:22:48 > 0:22:51- The decaying trunk that's standing there.- Which will be dead
0:22:51 > 0:22:54- and then begins to decay? - Yes.- Ah, right.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56We want it to decay because all sorts of creepy crawlies
0:22:56 > 0:23:00will live in there from spiders to earwigs and so on.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04These are food for many of the birds, especially the woodpeckers.
0:23:05 > 0:23:10In a natural woodland we require 25 of these to the acre
0:23:10 > 0:23:16and of a bigger diameter to match a natural woodland.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18OK, so that's to provide habit for.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22In 20 acres, you see, I should have over 100 of these.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24- Yeah.- And I've got nothing like. - Right.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Iliff's priority is not to create a wood that delivers timber,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32but one which provides a rich home for local plants and animals.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39So my instinct probably would have been to fell this tree completely,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43but of course by doing it this way you've taken a lot of the wood off the top
0:23:43 > 0:23:46and what you're left with is this standing trunk
0:23:46 > 0:23:50which is going to decay slowly over years
0:23:50 > 0:23:54and that will become a wildlife hotel.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57But Iliff's wood also has another role.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01It provides refuge to a man who has suffered huge loss in his lifetime.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13I've had some really low moments in my life.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19Perhaps the greatest was when my youngest son died of leukaemia...
0:24:20 > 0:24:24..and it took three and a half years
0:24:24 > 0:24:26and I was living here...
0:24:27 > 0:24:31..and I found the woodland...
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Sorry.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37It's quite difficult. It starts coming back, but it's good for me,
0:24:37 > 0:24:38it brings it out.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44The woodland took me in its arms
0:24:44 > 0:24:46and in its fold...
0:24:49 > 0:24:51..and healed me all the time.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56I think if I hadn't had the woodland I might well have crashed.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03But I still get moments when I feel very vulnerable.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06I found the best thing to do is break off, come out
0:25:06 > 0:25:09and work in the woodland for half a day.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12When I go back to the house for a cup of tea or whatever,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15I'm healed, I'm back to normal again.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24Rob's work has also had its own healing role.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30My dad died very suddenly towards the end of last year and...
0:25:30 > 0:25:36I was surprised at how little time I had to think about him,
0:25:36 > 0:25:41think about my relationship with him and, you know,
0:25:41 > 0:25:43go through the process of grieving.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47And I found that by coming to the woods I was provided that time.
0:25:51 > 0:25:58There is a sort of cathedral aspect to being in an ancient wood
0:25:58 > 0:26:04and so it was for me very powerful and I was very grateful,
0:26:04 > 0:26:08you know, that I had the wood to go to, to think about dad
0:26:08 > 0:26:12and go through the whole grieving process.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22New year comes around and the weather begins to warm.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26In Strawberry Cottage Wood, it has now been two months
0:26:26 > 0:26:30since the pigs first arrived. Their time here has come to an end
0:26:30 > 0:26:33and their owner Ray Harris has come to pick them up.
0:26:33 > 0:26:39So this is where we've been feeding them most recently, Ray.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42Yeah, it does look a lot different to what it did before.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44Yeah, I mean it was an overhead thicket
0:26:44 > 0:26:47of bracken and brambles, they've done a fantastic job.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51You know, they've cleared whole areas, Ray. Yeah.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Oh, look, here she is, here she is. Come to see you, Ray.
0:26:53 > 0:26:58I know, I know. She's looking good too, isn't she?
0:26:58 > 0:27:02- Will you miss them when they go? - I will, you know, I will.- Yeah.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06- I'll particularly miss him. - He's a character, isn't he?
0:27:06 > 0:27:10- He's a great character. He's been very, very companionable.- Yeah.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13He always, I mean, I know I'm always turning up with a bucket of feed
0:27:13 > 0:27:15but he always looks genuinely pleased to see me.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18So when you take them away what happens next, Ray?
0:27:18 > 0:27:21- I'm afraid it's off to the abattoir for them.- Is it really?
0:27:21 > 0:27:23- I'm afraid so.- Oh, God.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26I suppose that's the natural course of things, isn't it?
0:27:26 > 0:27:30It'll be a shame because they're great creatures.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44I feel quite sad they've gone.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46You know I miss them at two levels.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50They worked hard, they did the hard yards in the wood.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54They cleared a large area and for that service I'm very grateful.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58But they were also very good companions.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01I looked forward to coming to see them each day and you know,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03you spend a lot of time on your on in the woods
0:28:03 > 0:28:07and they were there and you develop a relationship with them.
0:28:07 > 0:28:13They're really very friendly and we are now a pig-less wood again.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Next time at Strawberry Cottage Wood, Rob is off to explore
0:28:23 > 0:28:24Britain's timber industry.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27They cut more timber here in an hour
0:28:27 > 0:28:30than I've coppiced in an entire winter.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32He tries to fell trees in his own wood.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35Could be fireworks now.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39And persuade local experts to buy them.
0:28:39 > 0:28:44Who cut this? Who cut this like that? What a waste.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd