Welcome!

Having worked in schools for 36 years I took early retirement a few years ago. Initially I was a Maths teacher but over the years more of my time was devoted to data management and timetabling. I taught myself to use Microsoft Access and some rudimentary web-design both of which proved invaluable in my job.

These days I spend a lot of my time volunteering. One of my regular haunts is Hicks Lodge which is just up the road. It is the National Forest Cycling Centre which is owned by the Forestry Commission. There is a volunteer group that meets most Tuesdays and helps with a variety of tasks from pruning overhanging trees and minor track repairs to litter picking. It is a friendly group and we have a lot of fun as well as doing some useful work. There is a great cafe at Hicks Lodge where we can recover our strength at the end of the morning.

One of the exciting developments was that the volunteers were offered a course in hedge laying. This sparked an interest and I have taken this further over the last few years. I joined the Heart of England Hedge Laying Group and arranged further training for the volunteers from some of the professional hedge layers in that group. We laid a section of hedge at Tunnel Woods in Castle Gresley and have since continued that.

The local style of hedge laying uses hazel stakes to support the laid hedge and hazel binders along the top that tighten the build of the hedge and hold everything together. These materials need sourcing and Seale Wood, another local wood that is also owned by the Forestry Commission, was planted as a coppice woodland with that in mind. Coppicing refers to the sustainable management of woodland where the plot is divided up into sections that are harvested sequentially over several years. In the case of hazel, this rotation takes seven years during which time the bushes regenerate from the remaining rootstock, producing straight regrowth ready for the next harvest. Stakes and binders for hedge-laying are some of the products that can be harvested along with bean sticks, pea sticks and material for charcoal-making, green woodworking, hurdle-making and thatching. As people become more aware of sustainability these crafts are making a comeback. So, as a spin-off to my hedge laying I became involved in coppicing at Seale Wood and volunteer there over the winter. I soon joined The National Coppice Federation and The East Midlands Coppicing Network.

Living in The Heart of The National Forest, I was very interested in 2018 to hear that The National Forest Company were planning to run a festival - Timber. I became involved as a volunteer, helping to set up the site and had a great time working with Wild Rumpus, the folk tasked with putting it all together. One thing led to another and we decided to construct a maze in the woods from coppiced hazel to be a feature of the 2019, and subsequent, festivals. This was a lot of fun to build and the kids at the festival enjoyed it too. Unfortunately, Covid-19 meant that our development in 2020 was curtailed and the festival itself had to be cancelled. For something to do during isolation I constructed a virtual maze that could be explored online. Hopefully, in 2021 we will be able to return to developing the real thing!

Youth Hostelling is another interest. I was particularly grateful to YHA for these institutions when I was bringing up my children and I decided that in retirement I may be able to give something back. For short spells I have managed a few small hostels which are only kept running by volunteers. Several of these are in iconic locations. My favourite was Dimmingsdale, situated in a wooded valley in the Staffordshire Moorlands, a couple of miles west of Alton Towers, where I used to help to look after the surrounding woodland as well as the hostel itself. Unfortunately YHA decided that it was not viable and the site has now been sold. There are some beautiful walks around the valley and beyond and it is still well worth a visit. There is a public footpath running through the site and the adjacent woodland is owned by The Forestry Commission and so is open to the public. The Ramblers' Retreat is a quirky cafe situated at the bottom of the valley. The hostel itself has been vastly upgraded and is now a sought after destination for family and group breaks, called Alton Forest Lodge.

I also do a little with the local Wildlife Trust (North West Leicestershire group within Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust ). Cloud Wood , near Breedon on the Hill is a great nature reserve where coppicing has been reintroduced as a management technique. This has successfully encouraged a wide variety of wild flowers including lots of orchids.

Contact

Hedge

© Bill Piper 2013