Ashden Awards visit to a woodland

During August, some of the Ashden Awards team and their families visited a woodland down in East Sussex. The woodland is owned and managed by Mike Pepler (Technical Manager at the Awards) and his wife Tracy.

Despite early threats of rain, it turned out to be a sunny day, and there was plenty of time for sitting around, eating and chatting.
Before lunch though, some people got involved in the woodland work, splitting big logs with a maul:
and smaller logs with a froe to make kindling:
After lunch it was time for a guided tour of the woods with Mike, first stop was some "Chicken of the Woods", otherwise known as Sulphur Polypore:
It's edible, but Mike hadn't tried it yet...

The walk continued through the woods, stopping to peer at strange beetles and other items of interest.
There were a few challenges on the way though...
In a neighbouring wood was Mike's friend Tim, using a large firewood processor to cross-cut and split logs ready to sell for use in woodburners for home heating:
For more info on the woodland and how it is managed to promote biodiversity while producing timber and fuel, check out Mike's blog.