We manage the coppicing of hazel for the Bentley Wood Trust, Wiltshire also on the Weld Estate in Dorset and at the moment are cutting 12 acres of hazel at Winterbourne Cleston, Dorset.

Coppicing
This enables us to employ 2 full time spar makers and we have an apprentice who is learning hurdle making, spar making and coppicing, the coppicing tradition has always been closely connected to the craft of thatching and there is a tremendous shortage of skilled woodsmen, there are less than 25 full time hurdle makers left in the UK so it is most important that we keep this tradition alive. Please contact me if you wish to have any information on the coppicing craft.

We produce a small amount of wood charcoal each year with the waste material from coppicing.

(Right) Rod making Spars for use on roof