Since my last blog spring seems to have sprung inCornwall, with Daffodils and Primroses giving a lovely yellow glow to hedgerows and banks.

The birds of the Cornish woodlands definitely think its spring, and the dawn chorus has definitely started.

In Cardinham however the birds singing is drowned out by the noise of machinery, which is unfortunate but very necessary. We are on target of getting the new extended car park open for the Easter holidays.  The Lady Vale trail is also on target and will have had a complete face lift by Easter as the repair works after the felling works are nearing completion. With the end of these 2 major jobs, Cardinham will again go back to being the quiet, spectacular and beautiful woodland we all know and love.

Also since the last blog we have appointed the mountain bike trail builder, who will be creating the network of single track cycle trails throughout Cardinham. The tendering process was a long affair with 10 hopeful companies, which we whittled down to 1,  the company is called Clixbys and they have vast knowledge of building enjoyable single track mountain bike routes, Take a look at there website www.clixbys.co.uk .

Hopefully everyone interested or who has concerns about the mountain bike trail construction in Cardinham has had the opportunity to talk to someone from 1SW or myself about the project. However, if there is anybody who would like more details about the cycle trail works then please feel free to contact us, as even when we have started building we are open to hearing suggestions and comments about the plans. 

On the wildlife front there have been lots of bird sightings in Cardinham this week.  This has included a Peregrine Falcon flying over the car park for at least 20 minutes. We also have the usual spring time birds singing such as the Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Marsh Tit make a walk through the woods unforgettable. There have been reports that an Osprey had taking up living in the car park area but actually it is a very handsome pale phase Buzzard.

 We would love to hear of any wildlife sightings by our visitors so please do keep us updated about what you see in any of our Cornish woodlands on our Cardinham Facebook page.

 Until next time

 Chris Mason

Trails, tracks and views

It’s been a little bit cycling crazy here, with the tendering for the build of the blue and red grade cycle trails at Cardinham. Unfortunately the job of walking the routes to the outskirts of Cardinham woods through the bramble and brash was down to me and a couple of my colleagues. We struggled through the task and managed to mark out the whole of the cycle trail network with red and white tape.

On the plus side the walk around the woods enabled me to see the new fantastic view points that have been opened up due to the Larch felling; some good has come out of that work!

While out walking it was a good chance to take in some of the wildlife that frequents the outer parts of Cardinham woods. As well as lots of evidence of badger activity, several deer were spotted with a group of six Roe Deer found in a nice warm sunny spot on top one of the hills.

I have also been working to ensure the tracks are being repaired after the Larch felling. This is quite an extensive job as the scale of the felling meant the Lorries were using most of the track network throughout the woods. Hopefully by the end of the February the internal tracks should be back to normal. We are still trying to get the Lady Vale Trail reinstated but we have to wait until all the stacked timber is out of the woods before we can carry out repair works to the surface. Hopefully we will start this repair work by the 1^st week of March.  Next week sees the start of the car park improvements which will increase the capacity of parking spaces by 40-50 cars. This will be the last major development to happen to the site that will disrupt the general users, but we will try to keep the disruption down to a minimum. This will be a great asset to Cardinham as it will relieve pressure during the busier periods.

 Until next time.

 Chris

Sorry for the severe lack of blogs these past few weeks. It has been a very busy time. 

The Larch harvesting works has taken top priority over the last couple of the weeks. The felling works have now completely finished and to my knowledge there are now no Larch trees within the Forestry Commission boundary of Cardinham Woods, which is a sad loss. Moving onwards, we are starting to look at what we will be replanting next winter, the likelihood will be a lot of native oak trees.

My next task was to ensure the reinstatement of the trails and tracks that have been damaged by the felling operations. This started on the 27th Jan and will carry on for around 4 weeks. We have to wait to fully reinstate the Lady Vale Trail due to the need to remove the timber from the site. Hopefully the timber should be mostly gone by the start of half term.

To add something else into the mix I have been working on the 1 South West cycle trail tendering process. We have now selected six companies who will tender for the building of the cycle trails at Cardinham. The start for the construction will begin in mid-late April 2012.

We had a taste of cold weather in Cornwall at the beginning of February. The views around Cardinham on the 2nd were absolutely breath taking with crisp clear skies and frost on the ground. The silver lining to the Larch felling is that it has created some beautiful view points from several locations – see if you can find them.

Until next time

Chris

My week started with the news that on the 4^th Jan, 6 days earlier than last year, one of my colleague’s had found frog spawn in one of our woodlands near Bodmin. The frog spawn was at least a day old. If anybody sees any frog spawn on Forestry Commission (FC) land, then please let us know.

Wednesday was spent with a great group of students fromDuchyCollege, Rosewarne who are studying for the foundation degree in countryside management. I invited the group on site to see how the FC manage Cardinham for Recreation, Conservation and Timber production. This was fortunately on what seems to have been the best day of the year so far and we enjoyed glorious winter sunshine. The morning was spent looking at the machinery and felling on site. The afternoon was spent working on a south facing bank, which was planted with Larch and has now been felled due to Phytophthora ramorum. We are going to turn this site into a conservation area and are working with Cornwall Butterfly Conservation Group andDuchyCollegeto create the ideal habitat for the Pearl Bordered Fritillary along with other wildlife. With the day being so warm we were lucky to be able to record the first Red Admiral butterfly of the year. More updates on this to follow.

 

 Thursday saw the power lines shut down to enable us to fell the diseased Larch trees in the valley behind the café. Generators will be used to keep the café and the two properties operational. Unfortunately this has also meant we have had to close the Lady Vale trail above the café and the Callywith Trail until the work has been completed. Hopefully within the next week we can re-open the trails and the power will be back to normal.

 

 Thanks for reading and until the next blog goodbye.

 

 Chris     

 

Firstly I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who came down for a walk
over the Christmas and New Year break. It was great to see so many people out
enjoying the woods which, are still very wet but beautiful this time of year.

It has been a very busy two weeks here at Cardinham since my last blog, which unusually at the moment wasn’t because of the felling work.

Much of my time this week has been spent sorting out tender documents for the grass cutting contract for Cardinham and five other sites in Cornwall. This is long process but we are now just waiting for the prices to come in.

The rest of my time has been taken up with making sure the trails have remained safe from falling trees. Lots of trees have blown down around the areas that the Larch trees have been harvested. The remaining trees near the felled areas are left more exposed to the high winds we have been experiencing. We have lost some trees and have had to take some down for safety reasons. At one point on Tuesday we were considering closing Cardinham Woods to the public as the winds were so strong but fortunately the winds calmed down enough that we were able to keep Cardinham open.

As well as the high winds the river level has been high, but thankfully the new bridge is coping better than we could have hoped for. With the water levels so high it is a good time to see the Salmon that are heading up river to spawn, so if you are visiting in the next couple of weeks keep a close eye on the river.

Until next time…

Chris

I have spent a lot of my time over the last two weeks working with contractors. We have been trying to keep as many of the trails open as possible, as well as use the diggers to scrape the trails so that they are open for the Christmas holidays. I have also been working with the contractors who have been felling the Larch trees and this is coming on really well. If you have ever wondered how the trees are felled then check out our clips of the forestry machines doing what they do best on You Tube, you can also see these via our Cardinham Woods Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/cardinhamwoods.

Woods Café is looking very festive, adorned with beautiful natural woodland decorations and Christmas lights and is serving a range of Christmas inspired yummy food. Also during January the cafe is offering 10% off all lunches and a special deal of £3 for any piece of homemade cake with a tea or coffee – even more reason to get out and about in the woods! Woods Cafe is open every day apart from Christmas Day. The usual opening hours are 10.30am – 4.30pm apart from the following days: Christmas Eve and Boxing Day – 11am-3.30pm New Years Eve and New Years Day– 11am-3pm While you are there make sure you look out for the bird feeder positioned outside the café. Just recently the birds have been having a feeding frenzy with Siskin’s, Coal tits, Nuthatch’s and many other common woodland birds being spotted!

If you come to Cardinham during the Christmas break (which we hope you will) the mud has created some brilliant conditions for spotting Deer tracks as they are leaving trails of hoof prints all over the woods. Please make sure you bring wellies or stout walking boots as the mud can mean it’s less stable underfoot.

Due to the Christmas break my next blog will be in the first week of January so until then, have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy the woods.

Chris

Larch Felling in Cardinham Woods, Cornwall

This week I have been working to make sure that Cardinham is open to the public as much as possible with the tree felling works that are going on at the moment.

We have had a lot of heavy rain over the past week which has meant lots of muddy puddles and some minor flooding. Thursday morning I checked the site as I normally do and found water coming through a stone wall in the top car park. Behind this wall is a stream with a culvert pipe running under the road. This pipe had become blocked by sticks and small logs. With help from the local contractors and a JCB we removed the blockage and other debris further up the steam corridor, at the same time managing to get more water flowing into the pond in front of the café.

As most of you will know we are in the process of implementing cycle trails at Cardinham and this week I have been finalising plans to set the ball rolling with the contractor tendering documents and will keep you all informed of any developments as they come in.

The smell of wood smoke has been hanging around the car park area as the café have had the log fire going all week, there plan is to have the fire going everyday now until March-April. This is a welcoming sight when getting back to the car park after a bracing winters walk in the woods.

In the next blog I will be highlighting what wildlife to look out for in Cardinham at this time of year and will also bring you a quick update on the felling works.

Hello I am Chris Mason and I work for the Forestry Commission (FC) as a Recreation Ranger covering all FC land in Cornwall.

My aim with this blog page is to let everybody know how the FC manages the beautiful woodlands inCornwall, especially Cardinham Woods.

Cardinham Woods is nestled in the south west corner of Bodmin Moor, less than 1 mile from the town ofBodminand easily accessible from both the main trunk roads in and out ofCornwallthe A30 and the A38.

It is 650 acres of beautiful woodland, which was purchased by the FC in 1921.

The woods have been plant with a mix of conifer trees, including Japanese Larch, Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce and many other species. But we have also left large areas of broadleaved trees such as Oak and Ash.

The site is very lucky to have Cardinham water running through the woods – this river is a tributary that runs into the River Fowey.

On my next blog I will talk more about the active management of the woods and what is going on at the moment.

I hope you enjoy my blogs,

Chris

Welcome and hello from Cardinham Woods near Bodmin, Cornwall.

Our recreation ranger, Chris, will be using this page to keep all of our visitors up to date with what he’s been up to, any news from the woods, special events and what wildlife he’s seen or what to look out for on your visit.

For those who haven’t yet discovered our hidden gem in the Glynn Valley, Cardinham Woods is a Forestry Commission managed woodland that has something on offer to suit everyone. If you are looking for fun and adventure or peaceful strolls, fresh air and exercise or just to enjoy the natural beauty you can find it here. Bring a picnic or visit the wonderful Wood’s Cafe for a delicious treat.

You can visit our website for more information www.forestry.gov.uk/cardinham

Bye for now…