In the beginning

At the beginning of December 2008, Jill and I decided to buy a piece of woodland. We had been searching for a number of years, but the woods we saw were either too big, too small, or too far away. The woodland we wanted had to be within walking or cycling distance of home and accessible by vehicle to allow us to transport our produce. The woodland we found fitted all the criteria. It is 3.6 ha (9 acres) of oak and ash standards with a few silver birches. The understorey is hazel coppice.

Rainbow Wood is ancient woodland; the oaks are mature and the hazel has been coppiced (last coppiced five years ago). We intend to carry on managing the woodland in the traditional, sustainable way, coppicing the hazel to make bean poles, plant labels, stakes, hurdles, charcoal and other woodland produce. This method of management opens up areas of the woodland in rotation allowing native flowers, such as orchids and bluebells, to thrive. It also allows shrubs and brambles to develop as food and habitat for butterflies and insects.

Rainbow Wood is part of a larger woodland (32 hectares) in West Sussex. To the south lie the South Downs, to the north is open pasture. The northern boudary is marked with an ancient woodbank and a seasonal stream. Woodbanks were used to mark boundaries in previous centuries. The earth is dug from a ditch and piled above to make the bank. On top of the bank dead branches and twigs are layered. They make a good boundary as the sides are steep and are generally cattle proof. In Rainbow Wood the old branches and twigs are long gone.

Buying the woodland was quite straightforward. It's a bit like buying a house with searches and land registry, but somewhat simpler as there was no chain. We saw the advert on the 'Woodlands' website - www.woodlands.co.uk

Once we had declared our intention to buy, we instructed our solicitor to do the conveyancing, and within a few weeks, we had signed the contract.