FAQ’s
I want to know where I can find woodlands for sale and how to go about buying them?
We know of a number of companies who sell woodlands around the UK at a range of prices.
Buying a wood is a bit like buying an old house. However, there are a number of potential pitfalls so if you contact us for information we would be happy to guide you through the process. It can be an exciting experience made much easier if you prepare before you buy. Get a basic valuation done to ensure that you don’t pay too much and engage a solicitor with experience of woodland sales to advise you regarding easements (rights over the land), sporting rights, rights of way, boundaries and access.
SWA’s ‘Small Woods Information Pack’ has 76 pages of detailed information written in a jargon-free way that takes you through how to buy and manage a wood for timber, wildlife or recreation and how to cherish and enjoy it! The pack is free on joining SWA.
I have bought my woodland but how do I go about insuring myself against claims for injury or damage?
SWA no longer handles insurance but its scheme is now operated by Rural Arbor Products Ltd who can offer low-cost Property Owners Liability cover - see www.r-a-p.co.uk for full details of the scheme.
I want to buy woodland products but just don’t know where to find them?
SWA’s subsidiary company Heartwoods Ltd has developed a virtual timber yard where you can search for products and find out where to buy them from www.heartwoods.co.uk. If instead you are looking for coppice products, for example hazel hurdles, charcoal or building materials (cut from woodlands managed on a regular cycle of sustainable cutting) then look at SWA’s Green Wood Centre products website www.coppice-products.co.uk
Wood for good also explains many of the positive benefits of using timber www.woodforgood.com
Doesn’t buying products from British woodlands destroy ancient woodlands?
In a nutshell, NO! Buying products from well managed woodlands actually helps the landowner keep in business. There is an old adage ‘the wood that stays is the wood that pays’. Management, such as thinning out the trees to encourage the others to grow larger , allows more light to the woodland floor and encourages wild flowers, butterflies and birds. All woodlands in the
When I phone up to buy timber they just give me jargon, like kiln dried or rough sawn, that I don’t understand?
Timber is sold either ‘green’ (as in green oak), air dried or kiln dried.
Green is cut and not dried in any way. Green timber is good for use in eg green oak timber framing, but is no good for eg floorboards as it will shrink and warp as it dries.
Air dried is timber left sawn into planks or other dimensions left to dry for between one and one and a half years. This dries it down to a moisture content of around 15%. Air dried has many uses but can still ‘move’ if put in a damp or very dry atmosphere such as a centrally heated house.
Kiln dried timber has been dried in a kiln for weeks or months to drive out most of the moisture to a level of around 7-10%, which means it should stay stable and not move eg as floorboards in a centrally heated house.
Timber is also sold as planed or rough sawn. Planed means it has been through a machine called a ‘planer thicknesser’ which ensures that it is smooth and of the same thickness, whereas rough sawn is rough not planed.
How do I find out about where my local woodland project is and what it is doing?
Take a look on SWA’s special map based searchable woodland initiatives website of all the key woodland projects in the UK, what they do, how they are funded and what reports they have produced. www.smallwoods.org.uk/initiatives
I am a coppice worker or craftsperson and want to get more training, or I want to get trained as such and start a new career?
The Green Wood Centre, part of SWA, is working with land based training lead body LANTRA to develop national standards for green wood and coppice trades, and hopes to launch a new accredited training scheme, but already runs a variety of courses from charcoal and coracle making to green oak framing www.greenwoodcentre.org.uk. It also manages a website for local wood products from sustainable woodlands www.coppice-products.co.uk.
I want to know where to find out where is my nearest accessible woodland?
Have a look at the Forestry Commission’s website www.forestry.gov.uk or that of the Woodland Trust www.woodlandtrust.org.uk In the West Midlands or Wales SWA has produced a series of ‘Local Woods’ Guides showing hundreds of accessible woodlands.
Your local council will usually have a tree officer or parks department who should be able to help you find locally accessible woodlands.
In Wales, SWA in partnership with Forestry Commission and many other local authorities and organisatiosn manages Coed Lleol (Local Woods) where over 4,000 people have already attended scores of fun educational events for all ages www.coedlleol.org.uk
I want my children to learn more about woodlands and the natural environment?
Forestry Commission fund a scheme called Forest Education Initiative (FEI) www.foresteducation.org.uk – for details see their website above. Many county wildlife trusts have educational programs (find them in Yellow pages). Forest Schools is a new idea borrowed from Europe which is rapidly gaining ground in the
I am a student or parent or just interested and want to find out more about woodlands?
Take a look at our very comprehensive ‘Links’ area on our website – there is a large amount of useful information about woodlands available on the internet.