Foxy Wood

New axe stands are coming along, hopefully this will save the volunteers backs and bending down, our next volunteer session is on the 25th July, we are running a free green wood working session, we should hopefully be carving some spoons and making some small stools, if you want to sign up to the session or need any further details email: [email protected] or DM me here and I will make sure you name goes down on the list, hurry as places are limited! First come first served.

A small trellis we made using woven cleft hazel cut from the estate, the rustic look suits the space well, hopefully the clematis grows through it well

Finally got to do a spot of felling on the estate again, clearing a bit more space for our amazing MSB volunteer group to work in for the final session of this block, next block is going to be clearing the brook and building some new water pools to create some new habitat if anyone in interested in joining us please let me know on my DM’s

New tool time, any guesses what this little beauty is? Can’t wait to have a play with it!

Getting back on to maintaining some of the derelict spaces around the estate and abbey out buildings, this is a snap shot of before, during and after, we should have a lot more space available for storing our seasoned firewood ready for this autumn

Had a brilliant day working with the new MSB volunteer group last Thursday, in collaboration with the Charnwood Geopark, we really appreciate all your hard work and look forward to our next session in the lower paddock of St. Mary’s Cottage, if anyone is interested in joining our little group please contact [email protected] and book on to one or more of the sessions, they will include activities from ground clearance, habitat restoration / creation, wildlife observation, wood fuel session and many many more wide ranging and varied activities in he coming months, we look forward to see you all soon!

Just a nice walk around Whitwick

Sometimes it just doesn’t feel like work!

Yesterday’s slabbing action, some beautiful spalted beech 2” slabs which will hopefully be ready in 12-18 months from Mount St. Bernard Abbey, the mighty Stihl MS881 powered through the 54” log like it was butter until I managed to find a six inch nail which have been completely enveloped by the tree some 50 years ago

After climbing on top of the large Beech I’ve been dismantling, I’ve discovered some very old carvings from 1951 & 1952, going to try and keep these once the tree is slabbed

One of the many trees in blossom on the the estate currently, this example was particularly beautiful

A spot of training this week with , hopefully I don’t mess it up come assessment time!

Another big task has been ticked off the list, the apiary garden has now been cleared, rotavated and sewn with wild flowers, a row of 24 small lavender plants have been planted in front of the hive entrances, hopefully it will look lovely and provide a small amount for the bees! I’m sure the rest of the insects will love it even if the bees pass it by.

Got to play with the monster today, the mighty MS881 with my new 64” GB titanium alloy chainsaw bar from

The saw didn’t even skip a beat, it went through this beech log like butter, loving how my new set up is feeling!

Yesterdays task was to take down this decent sized pine, approx 22” at chest height, of course it was going to get hung up so another smaller stem had to come down too, glad it’s all finished at hill top cottage

New boots on the front for the buggy, I should be able to steer it now rather than a vague direction choice like piloting a boat! 🛥 And the front section of the log carrier is now finished, let hope my agricultural style welds hold 🤞🧑‍🏭

A very large high hanging branch needed some creative cutting to pull itself out of the tree it was wedged in, the natural “S” shape in the limb allowed me to hinge cut it, collapsing itself in a Z fold under its own weight, it was pretty cool to see it pull itself out of the tree…… and we got some more storage made for the fire wood in the solar kiln

The first of many! This was a tricky one, right up against the building, it needed winching and tension putting on it before and during to stop it dropping backwards onto the building as the centre of gravity was behind the direction of felling, all sorted now and onto the next one!

A few big fungi formations on fallen tree from my roving today, the first signs of spring seem to be coming a bit early let’s hope there isn’t another heavy frost any time soon

Is it still work if it doesn’t feel like work? God I love this job!

The new log splitter is going to save us hours in time and possibly save injury, we should soon have tons of firewood available ready for next season, any guesses on what the big yellow cone is for? There was also a roof repair on the apiary, hopefully the new hives should all stay nice and dry this winter, the view was pretty nice from there too! A big thanks to and for dispatching these items out so quickly

The solar kiln shed now has a fresh coat of mat black paint ready for next spring / summer, all thanks to our new estates volunteer Andy, we also managed to get a few more ton bags worth of chippings done from the brush pile which has accumulated near the wetland area for the last 5 or so years, it’s nice to be making a dent in it, a couple more weekends and we should have it cleared, the chippings and mulch will be available for sale from the Abbey shop, some of the many woodland products we hope to sell as part of the local product promotion

The new workshop is coming on, we now have somewhere dry to process the timber from the Abbey grounds, fire wood, chippings, mulch, compost and charcoal will hopefully be available from the Abbey shop next season.
The chipper ran like a dream, super easy to use, really powerful and started on the e second pull after being sat on a pallet for the last couple of months whilst it waited for me to be ready

The roof is now finished 🥳🎉 we can finally move onto phase two of the sawmill project, clear out the junk and pigeon p**p 💩 get the racking, metal cupboards and the workbench installed, the buggy also got its new boots installed, no more sliding or getting stuck down the farm tracks!

Roof update, membrane is in place, the rotten lath has been replaced and the lead valley is now in, just the tiles next week and it will almost be finished!! 🥳🎉

Time to go stalking, this is my camouflage, what do ya think???

A new friend came to join me at work today, walked right up to me and just sat down next to whilst I was working

Managed to get the rafters back in place so the roof is safer and stronger, next steps are valley boards, felt, lead and tiles, nearly there 😅 Saturdays side project was to build the partitions for the compost heaps, mulch and wood chippings which will hopefully be on sale next spring / summer direct from the Abbey shop, along with the estate produced charcoal ready for next summer!

The wildflower meadow is looking really lovely, with the Abbey in the background what could be nicer?

More of the rotten roof has been cut back, hopefully this is the last of the material I need to cut away, next week I will be putting back good structural timber, really cannot wait for this to be done