CROW (Conserve Reading on Wednesdays)
Wednesday, 20th January 2016
Fobney Island Wetland Nature Reserve ~ Coppicing

The aim of our return visit was to complete the coppicing we had started the previous week, mainly cutting down stumps and burning at least part of the brash.

It was a beautiful winter's day - one of the coldest of the year so far - with a clear blue sky and no wind leaving the Green Park turbine motionless in the distance.

While the sun was warm, in the shade frost remained.

Elsewhere we created a bay on the woodland edge which should provide a sun trap for the benefit of the butterflies and other insects which are to be found in the area.

By the end of the day the coppice plot was finished with the excessive piles of brash which we had left at the end of our previous task reduced to a heap of smouldering ash.

Created: Sunday, 24th January 2016
Photographs: Alan Stevens