SOLD OUT! Managing Small Woodlands for Hardwood Timber
Tutors: David Brown and Ruth Pybus of award winning woodlands at Bron Haul - A course designed to empower the woodland manager to understand, and overcome, some of the pitfalls that stand in the way of producing quality timber from broadleaf species in the UK.
This course is designed to empower and encourage the woodland manager to understand, and overcome, some of the pitfalls that stand in the way of producing quality timber from broadleaf species in the UK.
Producing high quality timber from native broadleaf species is the gold standard of British forestry. Many within the forestry sector consider that commercial forestry in the UK is limited to a small number of exotic conifers, but small woodland owners are in a unique position to prove them wrong!
The course will be taught in David Brown and Ruth Pybus’ woodlands at Bron Haul. David and Ruth won the ‘Best of The Best’ RFS Excellence in Forestry Award – Small and Farm Woodland category in 2022.
Different species mixtures and silvicutural treatments will illustrate how small-scale woodland management techniques can be employed to grow a variety of broadleaf species to produce hardwood timber in a way that harnesses the many advantages of close to nature silviculture to enhance the forest ecosystem.
This course aims for participants to have an understanding of:
- How to create and foster resilience within woodland
- The importance of identifying, and dealing with, woodland threats
- Silvicultural methods for producing high quality hardwood timber.
This course is limited to a maximum of 16 delegates to ensure that everyone can contribute and have their individual questions answered.
Tea, coffee and water will be provided but please bring a packed lunch as lunch is not provided. Bring outdoor clothing and suitable footwear for the outdoor sessions.
Price: £75.00 RFS members / £95.00 Non-member
Mr David Brown & Dr Ruth Pybus
David Brown has been managing the 70 acres of land at his home in North Wales for 30 years. The original sheep grazed grassland has been converted into predominantly site native broadleaf woodland. Now he and his partner Ruth Pybus are developing the woodland to produce high quality timber, alongside biodiversity and amenity, managed under a single stem selection continuous cover system.
The high standard of woodland management at Bron Haul has been recognized in several competitions culminating in the award of “Best of The Best” in the RFS competition in the Small and Farm Woodland category 2022. They are delighted to be hosting their second Forestry Roots trainee.
In November 2019 David completed an MSc in forestry with Bangor University. Ruth advises landowners on woodland creation through Woodland Trust, Welsh Government and Farming Connect schemes.
