Why National Coppice Week is important
The Thatch Advice Centre understands how much work goes into creating a thatched roof. Not everyone realises what and who are involved along with the skills and knowledge required. Coppicing is one of the skills associated with thatching, in that this is where spars and liggers come from. We are therefore so pleased to be able to promote National Coppice Week (12 – 20th October 2019) with some information and great pictures from the National Coppice Federation.
National Coppice Federation (NCFed) and
National Coppice Week
“The National Coppice Federation is a federation of affiliated groups across the country. Group members represent a wide range of interests directly, and loosely, related to woodland and coppicing. They are both professional and amateur. There are no restrictions on membership other than a group must comprise a minimum of 10 people each paying £2.00 to NCFed. NCFed is run by its members and has no paid staff.
Our aims are to:
- bring together coppice groups and provide a unified voice for the industry
- encourage and promote the highest standard of practice, and quality of products within the coppice industry promote coppicing as a form of woodland management that provides economic, ecological and culturally significant benefits.”
The NCFed are organising National Coppice Week and we are sure that these events will be very well received.
National Coppice Week – overview
“National Coppice Week (12-20 October 2019) is a week of events throughout the country, focusing on coppicing, coppice products and the many benefits of the management of British woodlands by coppicing. The National Coppice Federation (NCFed), the Week’s organisers, realise that not many people know what coppicing is, let alone what products result from it or why it might be important. And that’s what the week’s all about. Affiliated groups around the country are running a wide range of events that will attract people to take a look, have a go, get their hands on trees and wood and, most importantly, talk to the coppice workers themselves.
There will be talks, walks, sales of coppice products, demonstrations of or chances to have a go at turning, charcoal, besom, pimp, splint basket, stool, hurdle, gate and spoon making, amongst others. There are also several opportunities to get out into a wood and actually do some coppicing yourself.” Take a look and to find out more.
National Coppice Week – detail
“Timing
12-20 October 2019, launching over the weekend of the National Coppice Federation’s (NCFed) Weekend Gathering, and AGM. This ties in with Oliver Rackham’s birthday (17th October) and the beginning of the cutting season. The Gathering will be held this year in Herefordshire.
Aims
To raise the profile of:
- Coppicing – what it is and why it’s carried out
- Products of the UK’s coppiced woodland
- The benefits of buying local and the problems often associated with imported products, especially charcoal
- Habitat and biodiversity benefits associated with coppice management
- Coppicing’s heritage
Outputs
- A wide variety of attractive, engaging, interesting and informative coppice-related events and activities take place during the week, across the country, organised and run by NCFed affiliated groups as well as other partner organisations.
Target audience
- The general public
- Policy and decision makers in local and national government
Participants
- Coppice workers, green woodworkers and allied crafts persons (both professional and amateur), both members of NCFed affiliated groups and non-members
- NCFed would like to involve as many other individuals and organisations as possible in National Coppice Week, for example:
- The Wildlife Trusts
- Volunteer coppice and other woodland or wood craft-based groups
- Other environmental trusts/organisations – Woodland Trust, National Trust, Community Forests, etc.
- Forestry England
- Local government officers
Range of likely activities
- Woodland open days
- Guided walks
- Talks
- Experience/have a go sessions and demonstrations,
- Sales of produce/markets
- Gigs, sponsored things, cakes, ceilidhs…
- Activities/events could be just for a single day or evening, run over two consecutive days or evenings, on alternate days, etc. and be organised by individuals or co-operatively by members of area groups.”
Join in with National Coppice Week
As there are events across the country, the majority of which are free, we do hope people will be interested in finding out more. Why not join in with National Coppice Week and learn about coppicing, have a go and understand what uses there are for the coppicing products. Production of thatching materials is a skill and spars and liggers produced from coppicing are no exception. We wish them great and successful events and look forward to hearing all about it.