Our contractor has completed the thinning work at Cunsey Gate. As soon as the logs have been removed we will restore the car park and prepare the newly opened area by the car park for a picnic area and open space. The contractor has now commenced work on a second compartment highlighted in blue line on the map below. Forestry equipment will be using the main track to forward timber to the Sawmill Yard site.
Work starts from this weekend 2nd October at the Cunsey Gate car park, thinning a stand of Larch trees. Our contractor will be using forestry machinery and we ask that visitors to the woods do not access this area during forestry operations. The car park will be used as a storage area and closed to visitor vehicles. Please also keep your dog on a lead while walking in this area. The areas with red lines indicates where the machinery will be in operation.
The thinning work is part of a long term programme of work to return all of Raincliffe Woods to a restored ancient woodland, replacing stands of mainly Larch to mixed native deciduous trees. Oak, Hazel, Rowan, Silver Birch and Hawthorn are examples of the types of trees that will replace the Larch. In the Cunsey Gate stand of trees we plan to create several glades where more light will get through to the ground plants. We will also create a picnic area not far from the car park. Silver Birch, Hazel, Holly and Sycamore have already started to establish themselves in this compartment. Natural regeneration is a good sign that even with the deer, the woodland is responding to the thinning of the dense canopy of Larch.
