Take part in the traditional task of coppicing in Hartford Wood where the practice has been taking place for over 800 years, making it one of the oldest managed woodlands in England. 

We will introduce you to the use of hand tools to cut the hazel coppice to produce sustainable products and benefit wildlife. 

At the end of the session, you are welcome to take home a bundle of pea sticks for use in your own garden. 

Please come dressed for the weather and bring work gloves if possible. We recommend welly boots or work boots as the woodland can be very wet. 

This course is suitable for beginners (age 18 and over) 

Coppicing is a technique that dates back to the Stone Age! Coppicing is when you fell (cut) a tree back to its roots, creating a stump. From this stump, new shoots will grow over several years, until they are ready to be cut again. After this wood has been felled, it can have many uses!

The most important part of coppicing is that nothing goes to waste! Some sticks can be used for our shelter building, and others can be used to create a dead hedge around the forest. We also sort the coppiced products by size to create bundles of pea sticks and bean poles for gardening as well as hedging stakes and binders for use in hedge laying.