Gabriel Hemery's Blog: Gabriel Hemery, page 10

Woodland Names in Britain

From Aaron Hole to Zigzag, Britain is blessed with an amazing variety of names for its copses, woods, and forests.

According to the Ordnance Survey, there are some 98,000 named woodland sites in Britain. The most common noun found in British woodland names is unsurprisingly wood, followed by plantation, strip, coille (Scottish Gaelic for forest), and clump.

Woodland names of Britain

I’ve been looking into woodland names as part of my research for my next book The Forest Guide (see: www.copsewoodforest.com). I’ve compiled a ranked list of the top 50 woodland names (see Table) and later explore some of the more interesting, hilarious, and intriguing names, from Fireskull Copse to Whores Plantation, and Stinking Wood to Deadmans Copse.

Woodland NameCountRankLong Plantation2851The Grove2272Park Wood2083The Rookery2054Crow Wood1985New Plantation1916Spring Wood1837High Wood1798The Belt1739Long Wood17010Round Wood14511Big Wood13912Black Wood13813Great Wood13214The Wilderness13015Little Wood13015Mill Wood12717The Plantation12018Oak Wood11519West Wood11420The Warren10121North Wood9822Home Wood9623Long Copse9524Black Plantation8925Birch Wood8925Low Wood8827Ash Plantation8827Lodge Plantation8729New Covert8330Quarry Wood8231Jubilee Plantation8231Fox Covert7833Castle Wood7634Lodge Wood7435Church Wood7336Park Plantation7137Hall Wood6838Old Wood6639Beech Wood6640Hagg Wood6141Garden Wood6141Church Plantation6141Home Covert6044Hill Plantation6044Quarry Plantation5946East Wood5946Bank Wood5946The Oaks5849Round Copse5750The Top 50 Ranking Names for Woods in Britain

Wildlife is an inspiration for many woodland names, including six variants of Wrens and 49 Woodcocks, a couple of Titcombe Woods, 23 Rookery plantations, and four Herons, but none can top the wonderful Woodcock Air or Upper Owlers Wood. Fox, Badger, Rabbit, Hare, and Boar are common too, including the fearsome sounding Boarpit Rough, but surprisingly there are only 11 Squirrels and one Marten, while two instances of Cod only boggle the mind. Flourishing alongside Flowerbank Wood and Flower’s Copse are 39 Primroses, 20 Bluebells, and nine Daffodils. Unsurprisingly, tree names are extremely common, while the popularity of a name appears to match the species’ rarity, with just 80 woodlands named after Yew trees, including Yewtree Knob and Yew Ring, 36 Hollys, and just three Chequers (another name for the wild service Sorbus torminalis).

Wonderful and confounding names abound immediately at the start of the A-Z list with Aaron Hole Plantation, while at the end of the long list, shortly before eight instances of Zigzag, a disproportionate number of curiosities appear with Whale Jaw’s Plantation, Widow Knight’s Copse, Whores Wood, Woofa Plantation, Wormstile Wood, Worth Nothing Plantation, Yawthorpe Fox Covert, and Yonder Brake.

Some of my other personal favourites include Cocked Hat Plantation, Kissing Copse, Sneckyeat Plantation, and Stinking Wood. Murder and death are never far away with 14 Deadmans and an equal number of Hangmans, plus three Robbers, and single culprits of Daggers Copse, Fireskull Copse, and Foulshotlaw Plantation. Mercifully, the needy might find solace in Robin Hood’s Howl.

Christian names abound as woodland names for both sexes, while I was pleased to discover a lonely Gabriel’s Copse in Hampshire. We can only suppose that many of these will have been named after specific individuals, most likely in remembrance.

Britain’s history is captured forever in its place names. Three sites are named Evelyn, perhaps inspired by the father of British forestry John Evelyn (1620-1706) although equally they might may refer to the feminine Christian name. More than 130 sites are named Jubilee, and there are 30 Coronation Plantations, and only the age of oldest trees might reveal which royal person they were planted to commemorate. Famous woodland historian and ecologist Oliver Rackham (1939-2015) argued that woodlands in Britain changed remarkably little after Norman conquest, at least until the advent of the 20th century. The previous use and purpose of our woodlands are often remembered in their names.

When I was researching for this article—a cold, dark and wet winter’s day—I found myself dreaming of spring and imagining a visit to Sunnyside Plantation and Warm Wood.

What is your favourite woodland in Britain? Do you own a woodland? Visit my dedicated website to contribute to my next book series: The Forest Guide

The post appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.

Coppice Story 2021

The ancient ash coppice stool in 2011

I realised recently that it was 10 years ago when I started following the story of a single ancient ash coppice stool. In January 2011 the coppice stool caught my attention because someone had written with a black marker pen on one of its freshly-cut limb stumps, the following:

“This was one our best loved trees.  We are sad that you have cut it down”

Anon., January 2011

The words rattled me at first, because I thought they portrayed an ignorance for woodland management, and the ancient art of coppicing which is about rejuvenation and sustainability. On reflection, I realised that this was the not the best response, as surely it is a responsibility of those of us lucky enough to work our woodlands to bring the public with us.

I returned a year later to discover that some growth had sprouted from the ancient coppice stool, but it was being nibbled by deer. Little did I know then, that ash dieback was already among us.

So, earlier this month, I returned to the ancient coppice stool with some trepidation, wondering what I would find …

A King Alfred cake fungus growing on the ash coppice stoolThe old face of the ash coppice where the message first appearedAn old (‘over-stood’) ash coppice stands nearbyTen years on the same ancient coppice stool has regrown but its young stems have been repeatedly killed by ash dieback and browsed by deer

The good news is that the tree is still alive. When I visited, dogs mercury (Mercurialis perennis) and lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum) were beginning to emerge from the still-cold soil, but I could feel the heat from the weak spring sunshine on my own face. Countless shoots had sprung from the old coppice stool over the years, but the largest was only the diameter of my middle finger. As many stems were brown and lifeless as were olive green; a sign that ash dieback was claiming most of the stems emerging every year.

Read more about the story of this ancient ash coppice stool

The post Coppice Story 2021 appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.

Tree Letters with Cheney School

I have been working with a school in Oxford to encourage the students to express their feelings towards trees and the natural environment as part of my Tree Letters project. The students have written some wonderful letters.

Regular readers will know that one of my current projects is creating a collection of letters between people and trees. The project is called Tree Letters, and you can visit the project website here.

Cheney School in Oxford is unique in having an accredited museum – The Rumble Museum – within the school. My project has been part of the museum’s activities, including the launch of a new exhibition called Cheney 2050. The school has launched a really lovely interactive website where there are clues to follow and surprises scattered throughout a virtual tree trail. Click here.

I also made a short film for the Cheney 2050 project which you will find alongside those from other contributors on this page.

The Tree Trail

As for the letters the students have written to the trees in and around the school, they are amazing but to see them all you will need to visit the Tree Letters website [password hornbeam].

Tree letter

Here at Cheney

When it’s rainy

The storm provokes

The mighty oaks

When it’s sunny

Warm and funny

The weather’s best

The branches rest

Kenneth Hobson (Aged 11)

The post Tree Letters with Cheney School appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.

Early Reviews for Tall Trees Short Stories Vol21

My latest collection of environmental tales Tall Trees Short Stories Vol21 comes out on 1st March. Awaiting the first reviews of a new book can always be a nervous distraction, so it’s been a relief to learn that so far, reviewers seem to have embraced my quirky collection of short stories with enthusiasm.

“This is an intriguing collection of stories. ~ Gabriel Hemery has ‘unfurled his net’, as he puts it, to catch stories of people living with trees in an extraordinary variety of contexts. As with the previous Vol 20, this collection of stories is not so much about trees as a vivid depiction of human dramas played out in the company of trees. Sometimes an individual tree plays a central role, such as the plane tree obscuring a voyeur’s view, or the mighty oak as lifelong mentor; sometimes we see a tableau unfold simply framed by the trees, such as wild young lovers on derelict land or a startling floor-show in the woods. ~ I recommend this book, both for tree-lovers and for anyone who appreciates a quirky collection of tales.’

Robin Walker, Author – read the full review

This is a delightfully eclectic collection of stories, but whether it was reading them against the background of a global pandemic I was constantly aware of a sense of unease. These are inescapably written in the time of Covid and our increasing awareness of the threat of climate change. The bleakness of some of the stories is there to act as a warning. One chilling tale describes a world where censorship has removed all possible reference to global warming. Some of the stories are really quite dark. In Plane View is a tale of obsession, The Sawyers: Or, A Tale of Two Halves is Grand Guignol.
Some are set in the present, some the future and some, like the extraordinary Fin, zigzag through time. There are fairy tale elements and a ghost story which describes scenes in a landscape Brueghel could have painted. There are bad fathers but also wise counsellors. Feral coupling on an abandoned motorway overpass but also a tender vignette about first love.
Landscapes are lovingly described whether in France, Japan or rural Britain, and trees of course, as one would expect. But their role is not always benign. They bear witness: to wars, to the frailty of man, but also to his heroism. They shelter and hear secrets. But most of all they are the sine qua non of our existence. “Without trees, human life would cease to exist”.

Fran, Goodreads

A captivating collection of tree tales – even better than the last anthology, if that were possible! I enjoyed the mix of story styles, all beautifully written and prompting wider reflection. Hemery’s interest in our human foibles, as well as his passion for trees, makes every story a great read. The book is now circulating through the generations in my family with excellent feedback to date! 

Sara, Goodreads

If you have read Tall Trees Short Stories Vol21, I would be very grateful if you could post a review somewhere online, for example Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble etc. These reviews can help introduce a book to a new audience. Thank you.

Tall Trees Short Stories Vol21, signed paperback £10.99 Add to basket Tall Trees Short Stories Vol21, ebook £3.99 Add to basket

The post Early Reviews for Tall Trees Short Stories Vol21 appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.

Tree Letters Goes Live

I’m excited to launch my latest literary project: Tree letters. I’m hoping that people will take part by writing letters with me which I aim to publish as a collection in a future book.

Whether eight or eighty, love writing or if it’s been a while, anyone can take part in the project. I hope that these letters and the wonder of nature will inspire people to write and submit something in response.

Over the course of a year or two I will be visiting trees throughout Britain and writing a personal letter to the tree and to the place. I will leave it behind in a letter capsule where it will wait to be discovered. A unique password attached to the capsule will allow the discoverer to write their own letter. Ultimately the letters may be published in a book.

So far, I’ve only written and released a few letters, but many more will come over time. I’ve launched a dedicated website at www.treeletters.com where all the letters are accessible and contributors can sign in to take part.

“In your final moments our lives entwined. I discovered words and dreamt of writing, even while your bark turned to dust and those lab’ring words faded into history.” 

The Poem Tree Letter

One of the letters already published is sited within the grounds of a school in Oxford (read the Ox Tree Letter), where I have been collaborating with the students in a special project (news to come!). Another is a short note scribbled on an unusual till receipt – read the Woodall Tree letter.

My letter (note) to the Woodall Tree might be my shortest ever, scribbled on a till receipt where there’s more than meets the eye at first glance.
“Just wanted to say thanks. What a bargain!”

The letters are tucked inside biodegradable letter capsules where they will wait to be discovered (afterwards the capsule will make a great bug hotel). A unique password attached to the capsule will allow the discoverer to write and submit their own letter on the dedicated TreeLetters.com website. The password will only be available from the letter or container left with each tree, and will be specific to that tree.

The letter capsule at the Poem Tree location. Eventually the container will become a handy bug hotel!

The discoverer of the letter might come across it by chance, or deliberately seek it out after reading about the project online and exploring the interactive map of tree locations.

Over time, Tree Letters will appear across the length and breadth of Britain, nestling deep in the countryside or hidden in plain view among our urban emeralds.

Ultimately the collection of letters, both from myself and members of the public, may be published in a book, but that will depend on the success of the response.

The post Tree Letters Goes Live appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.

Award for Services to British Forestry

Back in April 2020 I was jointly awarded, with Professor Julian Evans, the Peter Savill Award for contributions to the British forestry industry.

I’ve waited patiently since the announcement in April (read more) while co-winner Professor Julian Evans enjoyed his share of the stunning cup which features in this prize, turned from a piece of walnut burr.

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of meeting up (socially distanced of course) with Peter Savill’s widow Michelle to celebrate the handover of the award. We were photographed at the Sylva Wood Centre in Oxfordshire.

The cup now adorns my office at the Sylva Foundation, where alongside a copy of The New Sylva I can proudly display it in the background during the countless online calls I have during national lockdown!

The Peter Savill Award has run since 2007 and is awarded each year by Woodland Heritage.

Dr Gabriel Hemery with the Peter Savill Award presented by Michelle Savill. The tree between us is a Cedar of Lebanon, planted in memory of Peter Savill, a former trustee of Sylva FoundationThe Peter Savill Award and cup, turned from a piece of walnut burr, in my office at the Sylva Wood Centre

The post Award for Services to British Forestry appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.

Ten Golden Rules for Reforestation

A paper published recently has presented ‘ten golden rules’ which the authors say should be followed to help deliver sustainable reforestation around the world.

The paper authored by Di Sacco et al. in Global Change Biology (full citation below) sets out to summarise a simple set of priorities to provide the urgent solutions required to help combat global climate change. The title table suggests that the paper focusses on reforestation, but to me much of its content applied as much to afforestation as reforestation. I like that the authors describe how tree planting that is poorly planned and executed might actually increase CO2 emissions and have long‐term and negative impacts on biodiversity, landscapes and livelihoods. What I like most about the paper, above all else, is that it will remind conservationists that such schemes and ambitions must ‘make it pay’ (Rule 10). It reminds me of a common adage used in British forestry—not the right tree in the right place for the right reason (which is always helpful)—but that a tree that pays is a tree that stays. Any of us with an environmental mission forget the economic pillar of sustainability at our peril (the other two pillars being society and environment). After all, I’ve never seen a two-legged stool which works effectively.

The ten golden rules of reforestation are:

Protect existing forest firstWork togetherAim to maximise biodiversity recovery to meet multiple goalsSelect appropriate areas for reforestationUse natural regeneration wherever possiblePlant species to maximise biodiversityUse resilient plant materialPlan ahead for infrastructureLearn by doingMake it pay

The Ten Golden Rules for Reforestation, from Di Sacco et al. 2021

Citation

Di Sacco, A., Hardwick, K.A., Blakesley, D., Brancalion, P.H.S., Breman, E., Cecilio Rebola, L., Chomba, S., Dixon, K., Elliott, S., Ruyonga, G., Shaw, K., Smith, P., Smith, R.J. and Antonelli, A. (2021), Ten golden rules for reforestation to optimize carbon sequestration, biodiversity recovery and livelihood benefits. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15498

The post Ten Golden Rules for Reforestation appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.

Calling Woodland Owners in Britain

My research is progressing well for The Forest Book. Thanks to a growing number of organisations who own and manage woodlands across Britain, I now have a database of some 10,000 woodlands to consider for inclusion in the book. These appear as red dots in the image below, where they overlay a map of woodland cover across Britain which I produced using the freely available National Forest Inventory using GIS.

It’s great to have this database, but I remain really keen to receive more contributions from private woodland owners. I believe what makes this project unique is its aim to celebrate the thousands of woodlands owned by individuals. What’s the history of the wood, what inspired you to become a woodland owner, what are the special features of the forest, what are your hopes and fears for its future, do you welcome visitors or support education, and more?

The Forest Book project is run on a separate website at www.copsewoodforest.com

Read more and find out how to Register here

The post Calling Woodland Owners in Britain appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.

In Celebration of Diversity in the USA

To mark the inauguration of the 46th American President Joe Biden I thought it fitting to celebrate the amazing diversity of the USA’s forests.

I don’t tend to comment on politics, and in any case, who would care what a small-time forest researcher and author in the UK might have to say about one of the most dangerous men ever to be allowed to roam uncontrolled in the corridors of a world superpower. All I will say is that 2021 is now starting to look up, especially with the USA rejoining the 2015 Paris Agreement which after all aims to secure a future for all life on Earth.

I’ve written before about Britain’s depauperate tree species diversity, having only 35 common native trees (stretched to 60 if you include minor species) – read more. The USA meanwhile has many hundreds of native tree species. In fact the Native Tree Society of the USA lists 777 native tree species.

Overall, the USA has 33.9% forest cover by area, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). This places the USA somewhat in the middle of forest cover compared to European countries, which range from 74% in Finland to 13% in the UK – read more. In terms of trees per person, the citizens of the USA are lucky to have 716 trees each, compared to just 47 trees per person for those living in the UK – read more about trees per person around the world.

The USDA Forest Service provides excellent inventory data on trees by states, including some really attractive maps. I found it a little harder to track down some basic facts and figures for the USA as a whole, which is perhaps unsurprising given the huge diversity of landscapes and the scale of the country. A citation for the data I have used in preparing the following table and figure is provided at the bottom of this page.

First of all, if we look at data available for 200km plots, one way to consider dominance is to look at basal area. Basal Area (BA) is the cross-sectional area of a tree at breast height (at 1.3m above ground level), and is normally described as tree stem area per hectare (m2 ha-1) (or this case, as it’s the US, basal area is measured in square feet per acre). Basal Area provides an indication of the productivity of the land, and the growth rate of the trees when one or basal area estimates are compared. Read more about Basal Area here.

The table below lists the top 20 tree species by basal area, showing that when they occur in a forest, various mesquite species are the most dominant. Be aware however, this means that these are the dominant species only in plots where they exist. In other words, while mesquite species cover 113.8 ft2 per acre, they only appear in 0.001% of measured plots.

Common nameScientific namePlots (%)Basal Area (ft2/acre)mesquite spp.Prosopis spp.0.001113.8Shasta red firAbies shastensis0.06086.3California red firAbies magnifica0.21682.1Pacific silver firAbies amabilis0.18265.2mountain hemlockTsuga mertensiana0.25964.7Utah juniperJuniperus osteosperma1.92060.6plains cottonwoodPopulus deltoides0.03858.0Douglas-firPseudotsuga menziesii3.38253.7white firAbies concolor1.06053.7lodgepole pinePinus contorta1.70750.1tanoakLithocarpus densiflorus0.07848.6loblolly pinePinus taeda5.39644.1western hemlockTsuga heterophylla0.31744.0water tupeloNyssa aquatica0.08844.0oneseed juniperJuniperus monosperma0.35843.8Engelmann sprucePicea engelmannii1.33043.0Jeffrey pinePinus jeffreyi0.33342.6giant sequoiaSequoiadendron giganteum0.00242.2western redcedarThuja plicata0.23841.5ponderosa pinePinus ponderosa2.81741.1Top 20 tree species in the USA frequency (basal area) within plots. This means that where present in a 200km plot, these are the trees which dominate in those forests.

Another way to look at the data is to report the frequency of occurrence, i.e. how many plots that a tree species appears across the US. The chart below includes the top 100 species ordered by frequency recorded in the 200km plots. The graph is interactive so if you move your mouse or finger over it, it will reveal more information. You can also scroll to the right to reveal more data..

The top ten tree species in the USA ordered by frequency of occurrence shows that red maple (Acer rubrum) is the most frequent species, followed by white oak (Quercus alba) and sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua).

RankCommon nameScientific name1red mapleAcer rubrum2white oakQuercus alba3sweetgumLiquidambar styraciflua4loblolly pinePinus taeda5black cherryPrunus serotina6yellow-poplarLiriodendron tulipifera7blackgumNyssa sylvatica8northern red oakQuercus rubra9sugar mapleAcer saccharum10American elmUlmus americanaThe top ten tree species in the USA ordered by frequency of occurrence.Citation

Wilson, Barry Tyler; Lister, Andrew J.; Riemann, Rachel I.; Griffith, Douglas M. 2013. Live tree species basal area of the contiguous United States (2000-2009). Newtown Square, PA: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0013

The post In Celebration of Diversity in the USA appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.

A List of Environmental Specialists

Have you ever wondered what an expert of snails or of bats is called? Read on to discover all manner of interesting and unusual names for specialists of environmental subjects and the natural world.

If you study people you are an anthropologist, but if you investigate fish you are an ichthyologist, while if you are into soils you are a pedologist. Did you know there are specific names for experts of individual trees (arborists) vs. forests (silvologists)? Just don’t confuse an insect specialist, or entomologist, with what you will become by reading this, namely an etymologist (someone who studies words)!

Here’s the list of more than 40 different names for those who study different aspects of the environment and natural world.

specialist nameenvironmental specialismaerologistairagrostologistgrassesagronomistagricultural cropsarboriculturist or arboristindividual trees (cf. silvologist)autecologista single species of an organism (i.e. a branch of ecology) (cf. syecologist)biologistgeneral biologybotanistflowering plantsbryologistmosses, liverworts, and hornworts (cf. lichenologist, pteridologist)cetologistwhales, dolphins, and porpoiseschiropterologistbatsclimatologistclimate (cf. meteorologist)dipteristflies (i.e. a branch of entomology)ecologistall branches of ecologyethologistanimal behaviourenvironmentalistenvironmententomologistinsects (all types)epidemiologistdiseasesgeologistrocksherpetologistamphibians (e.g. frogs, snails, newts) and reptiles (e.g. snakes, lizards)hydrologistwater (not only ecological properties) (cf. limnologist)ichthyologistfishlimnologistfresh water (i.e. a branch of ecology)lepidopteristbutterflies and mothslichenologistlichens (i.e. a branch of mycology)malacologistmolluscs (e.g. snails, clams, octopuses etc.)mammalogistmammalsmelittologistbees (i.e. a branch of entomology)meteorologistweather (cf. climatologist)mycologistfungimarine biologistmarine ecologynephologistclouds (i.e. a branch of meteorology)odonatologistdragonflies, damselflies (e.g. a branch of entomology)orchidologistorchids (i.e. a branch of botany)ornithologistbirdspalaeoecologisthistorical environmental conditions (i.e. a branch of ecology)parasitologistparasitespedologistsoilspomologistfruitpteridologistferns, horsetails, clubmosses, and quillworts (cf. bryologist)silvologistforests and forest ecosystems (cf. arborist and arboriculturist)synecologistentire ecosystems (i.e. a branch of ecology) (cf. autecology)thanatologistdeathvirologistvirusesA list of environmental specialists

Do you think I’ve missed any? If so, please leave a comment below and I will update the table.

The post A List of Environmental Specialists appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.