Felling One Ash
The day began with an early drive to Ufton Park at the Englefield Estate in Reading. Once there it was then time to start putting up gazebos and setting up base camp.
The Andover Trees team and the Englefield Estate forestry team were on hand throughout the day to make sure everything ran smoothly. Over a year of meticulous planning had gone into the day and countless volunteer hours had been given on the project so far, including the cooking of soup and baking of cake for the masses!
From 7 am set up to a 4 pm pack-up, the One Ash tree felling day was a great success!
Base Camp, One Ash Felling Day
120 school children from Andover Trees partner schools plus 60 adults including volunteers, crafters, foresters and other guests all came together on Thursday 13th to witness the felling of the ‘One Ash’ tree.
Students also planted 30 new trees and watched craft demonstrations by representatives from the Sylva Foundation, the Hampshire Coppice Group, and the Englefield Estate forestry team. Including demonstrations on how to make firewood, pegs, paddles and hay rakes.
Student Ben asked Colin about his woodwork tools: "How do you learn to make the oars? Does it take a long time to learn how to use this (tool)?”
After the timber from the ash is distributed, crafters will document their process of work for the children to follow and learn from. There will also be a dedicated ‘One Ash’ webpage on the ATU website where this documentation will be recorded.
Colin Henwood, demonstrating how to make Canadian canoe paddles. Photo by Sophie Stocker
The day marked the start of our ‘One Ash’ project. However, building up to the day, in 2019, the children had already visited the Ash and another mature woodland (on the Trinley Estate) as part of our ‘Meet The Trees’ outdoor learning programme. On these visits, children learned about different kinds of trees, the ecosystems that they support, the benefits and disadvantages of felling trees and the importance of sustainable forestry. More importantly, a previous visit to the ‘One Ash’ meant that the children could form an emotional connection to the tree - seeing it as a living thing and developing an appreciation for it before it was felled. Some students have also been working with James Aldridge on his partner project ‘Ash Tree Stream’, they gave their final thanks to the tree on Wednesday, a day before seeing it be felled.
Riley, at the tree felling site, said: "I do think trees are really important because without them we couldn't breathe in all this fresh air."
Richard Benyon welcomes guests to The Englefield Estate and tree felling site. Photo by Sophie Stocker .
After a welcome talk from Richard Benyon, owner of the Englefield Estate, the felling could finally begin. It only took a few minutes in total but there was a great sense of suspense in the air as all eyes were on the ash.
Feelings of excitement and poignancy watching the 80-year old tree start a new chapter in its journey.
Felling the One Ash tree. Photo by Sophie Stocker
Rick and Rob from Englefield - felling the One Ash tree. Photo by Sophie Stocker
Once felled, the children and guests were able to get up close and personal to the ash one last time before the milling team arrived. Some children were fascinated by the stump and the sawdust, some wanted to climb amongst the canopy, some were trying to count the rings to calculate the age, and some wanted to know how tall it was (an impressive 22m). The school group that predicted the height most accurately in a previous visit was Appleshaw St. Peter's Primary School. The other schools attending, also with close estimates, were Andover C of E Primary School and Harrow Way Community School. Vernham Dean Gillum's Primary school, unfortunately, had to cancel at the last minute, but will still take part in the project going forward.
Sam, when looking inside a hole in the trunk, said: "Oh look, a huge spider! I wonder if it lived inside the ash tree and now it has to find a new home?"
The children then chose their own twig from the tree that would later be turned into a twig pencil by the Englefield team - a little memento of the day and one of the first of the One Ash end-products. The very first product to be made from the ash, however, was a clothes peg (picture below).
The Englefield team making pencils from twigs taken from the One Ash tree. Photo by Sophie Stocker
The first thing to be made from the One Ash tree. A peg, made by Peter Jameson.
Next on the agenda was tree planting. Students worked in small groups to plant 30 new trees of varying varieties to replace the felled Ash. Putting their sustainable forestry knowledge into action.
All of these children already had tree-planting experience from taking part in the creation of Harmony Woods. This meant that on Thursday, they already knew exactly how to plant a tree and so could be left to get on with it.
Planting trees at the Englefield Estate. Photo by Sophie Stocker
The ATU partner schools will now be able to follow the journey of the timber as it is worked into new forms from furniture to tool handles to woodchip for smoking River Test trout. An exhibition of all the finished products, along with documentation of the process, will take place in Andover in 2022.
Wendy Davis, founder of Andover Trees United explained: “We want to help children understand the connection between the forests that they enjoy exploring and the things they use day-to-day.
“We have found that there is a perception amongst young people that cutting down any trees is bad, perhaps as they learn about deforestation at schools, and of course this type of tree felling is unacceptable. We want to teach them that when woodland is managed sustainably it provides a valuable natural resource, as well as spaces that we can all enjoy and where plants and animals can thrive.”
Richard Edwards, Forestry Manager at the Englefield Estate, said: “To allow our trees and woodland to thrive for years to come, it is important that the next generation understand the time and expertise that goes into managing areas like this. All of our woodlands are managed under a long-term plan which ensures that a sustainable timber crop is harvested and new trees are planted and cared for.
“It was great to see the children so engaged with the lifecycle of the tree and discovering how many everyday items that they use might have come from a tree like this one. They all really enjoyed planting new trees too and we hope to have inspired them to look after the countryside around them.”
Counting the rings on the One Ash tree. Photo by Sophie Stocker.
Lunch was provided for all that attended. On the menu were homemade soups, homemade cakes, bread, cheese and fruit. Student Ava, trying gluten-free soup for the first time, said: "I actually really liked it. And I ate it all!"
A special thanks go to Abel & Cole for their donation of fruit and veg for lunch, and of course to the ATU team for the home-cooking!
Meanwhile, whilst lunch and tree planting were underway, forester Ben Lewis and his colleague had moved into the tree felling site to begin milling the tree (turning it into planks). Ben kindly donated his time to mill the timber, and once he began a beautiful pattern was revealed within the grain. Apparently, this dark colouration is typical of Ash trees and is not a result of Ash Dieback. We can’t wait to see what will be made with it!
The milling team. Photo by Sophie Stocker
First look at the milled timber.
Inspired by The Sylva Foundation’s ‘One Oak’ project, the ‘One Ash’ project continues to develop learning in the natural environment by bringing attention to ash dieback disease and nurturing a greater understanding of sustainable forest management. Inspiration also comes from Writer Robert Penn’s book and homage to the ash tree ‘The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees’ (2015).
The ‘One Ash’ tree itself does indeed have the very early stages of Ash Dieback disease, an invasive fungal disease which is decimating UK ash trees. However, not to an extent that makes the timber unusable.
The disease was first identified in the UK in 2012 and, according to the Woodland Trust, “will kill up to 95% of ash trees across the UK. At a cost of billions, the effects will be staggering. It will change the landscape forever and threaten many species which rely on ash.”
This project, therefore, encourages the children to notice the ash trees in their local environment before it is too late.
Student Guilherme, when walking through the woods, said: "It is pretty cool that I've seen a birch tree now because we are birch class and I never even knew what one looked like!"
Ellie, when asked if she was having fun, answered: "Yes, I just love being outside!" , and Maisy, jumping through the mud, shouted: "I love it, I love it, I love it!"
Children leave Thanks to the ash tree as part of their work with James Aldridge on Ash Tree Stream.
Thank you. Photo by James Aldridge
Thanks so much to our fantastic volunteers and the Englefield Estate team for the many hours of hard work that has been put into pulling this amazing event together.
Pictures and video will be up on our ‘One Ash’ page soon. In the meantime, you can follow online using #OneAshTree .