Alvecote Wood

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Alvecote Wood

Alvecote Wood is a 20 acre woodland site near Tamworth with ancient woodland, newly-planted woodland, We like Win-Win :-)

We have owned Alvecote Wood since 2007, and have been restoring and managing it as a wildlife site since then. We have put in tracks, planted hedgerow and coppice, cleared bramble, restored over-stood coppice to rotation, put in nest boxes, undertaken wildlife surveys, planted meadows and regularly open to the public on Open Days and allow use by community groups. We bought 9 acres of adjacent fie

ld in 2010, now known as Betty's Wood, and have planted this with thousands of native broadleaved trees, sown wildflower meadows and dug several ponds to form a new wildlife site and a wildlife corridor. We hold Open Days through most of the year, as well as work parties during the winter. The wood generated by conservation activities is used as firewood and to make wooden craft products. Woodlands need active management and this can be done in harmony with offering benefits to the local community.

03/06/2026

Housing Update:

This relates to the major housing development on the other side of Robey's Lane, a project that has given us major cause for concern ever since we first heard of it back around 2016.

The land agents that progressed the project as far as gaining outline planning approval sold the entire project last year to Persimmon Homes, who will be doing the remainder of the 'Reserved Matters' detailed planning applications and the construction of the housing.

We were delighted to welcome two people from Persimmon to the Woods in April 2026 and we showed them around and explained our fears. They took everything on board but were unable to make any offer of support pending further discussions back at their offices.

Very sadly, since then we have not been offered anything definite at all beyond applying to their 'Community Champions' fund. However, they also said we would not be eligible for this as the Woods is not a charity. They said there may be a chance we could do something in conjunction with our work with the Royal Forestry Society Teaching Trees programme, as that is a charity. That fund might be able to allocate up to £6,000 but that is a small fraction of the cost burden we are having to take on in an effort to make the Woods more secure and more sustainable when we fear possibly significant increases in antisocial problems as the housing comes so much closer.

To say that we are disappointed would be a massive understatement :-(

This is after about 10 years of lobbying and explaining, with various vague assurances given to us along the way, all of which seem to have come to nothing. To be fair, those comments were made by the land agents and not by Persimmon so they are, perhaps, approaching this as a clean slate (although Hallam did tell us they had explained our situation to them).

E.g. I was told in 2019 that they "should" be able to provide us with mains services and broadband on the back of what they were planning. The Persimmon ladies explained that would be a really big deal for them as it would involve closing the public road and digging a trench to link to the Woods. As a result, they said it was really unlikely to be possible. Hence, we approached an independent utilities company and, to cut a long story short, we ended up with a quote of £375,000 to provide mains electricity (only)!!! Broadband, from another provider, would be around an additional £50,000. No provision for mains water. Sadly, we don't have that kind of money to spend so we have had no alternative but to look into off-grid options at our own cost. Boundary fencing, as another thing where we hoped for help, is also going to be at our own cost with a quote of about £4,600 just for the top priority sections along Robey's Lane.

This has all been very upsetting with lots of tears cried over the last 10 years. I promised my late wife, Sarah, before she died that I would do my best to take care of the Woods and that has not changed. It's a whole lot harder than it might have been but I'm delighted to have my Lovely Lady partner, Rosie, at my side and supporting me all along the way. It does feel good to be moving on under our own control, now, rather than spending more time waiting for help from others that didn't materialise. We are looking forward to some new fencing and other improvements over coming months. That will be great (and we'll just have to put the historical discussions out of our minds).

30/05/2026

As usual, everyone is welcome to tomorrow's Open Day at the Woods (Sunday 31st May). The weather is looking good and, I'm pleased to say, a bit cooler than it has been. The trees etc have really struggled in the hot weather we've had in several of the years recently so a bit of respite for them will be welcome, I'm sure :-)

The early-Spring mowing that we did on our meadows has really helped the wild flowers, which is just what we were trying to do :-) We did a high cut primarily to take off the top of the Knapweed plants as they are so vigorous that they will dominate and overshadow everything else, given half a chance. The new mower that we bought last year allowed us to do that mowing pass as another 'cut and collect' so we were able to cut high _and_ remove the cuttings at the same time - something we've never been able to do before! It has produced a significant improvement already and many more species of wild flowers are growing well. That's also great for the insects - Biodiversity boosts biodiversity! We love it when a plan comes together :-)

If you arrive in a car, please park on the concrete area uphill of our main building, if there is space. Parking diagonally helps to preserve that space and, if everyone can park on that concrete area, we can keep the overflow area on the grass clear. Root compaction is a genuine issue for trees so parking on the concrete is much better for them wherever possible, please.

It's free entry to the Open Day but donations are always very welcome!

We're open 10am-3:30pm (last entries at 2:30). Thank you :-)

19/05/2026

The last week has seen some more of our efforts to restrict the spread of the Acute Oak Decline disease in the Woods. This is rather a difficult task but we feel it is important that we do everything we can to protect the trees.

We were considering felling 3+ of our worst-affected oaks but the presence of bat roosts has meant that is far from a simple process. We have spent almost £2,000 on bat surveys so far and have a few trees that are cleared for felling, but several of the most diseased ones have 'PRF-M' features that would require something like an additional £2,000 of bat work plus tree surgeon work likely to be a further £1-2,000. I.e. a lot of money.

( 'PRF' is a hole deemed to be a Potential Roost Feature, meaning bat(s) may be using it to roost. A 'PRF-I' is a roost possibly being used by an individual bat, whereas a 'PRF-M' is one possibly being used by multiple bats. The 'PRF-M' roosts have much more legal protection so are harder to neutralise without a series of climbs by bat survey experts and, then, for the relevant tree(s) to be felled on the very day of the last climb. All of that is tricky to organise for us and stressful as a result, as well as being expensive!)

We have taken the decision to manage the infected trees mostly in situ, so we have cut sections from the sides of some trees and are also drilling-out infected material on others. We have already taken some of this likely beetle larvae-infested timber to the Alice Holt government lab and we have offered them more material for their research. Anything they don't want, we will have to burn on site at the Woods. That is to protect the Woods and also other oak trees in the area.

One of our worst-affected trees was cleared to fell and we took that one down last week. We will give more detail and explanation about that in due course.

The photos show what an AOD bleed looks like as you start to drill into it. We wanted to remove the vast majority of infested/infected material. We asked the lab about this and they said they didn't know if it would work as nobody else has done it, as far as they know. We thought it was worth a try. Any cut or wound on a tree is a potential route for infection to come in so we need to be measured in whatever we do, but our reasoning was that various of these trees are already deemed (by the experts) to be mortally infected so we rather had nothing to lose! The bigger priority is to protect the rest of the Woods.

It is shocking how much of a mess the beetle larvae and the disease make of the inside of the bark where there is a bleed. Poor tree! The tissue is often rendered very soft, fibrous and spongy, sometimes with modified sap under pressure as the tree tries to clear the infection and irritation.

The cutting we did here was with a special 'Forstner' drill bit that has the advantage of taking out a flat-bottomed hole, and we could see how the tissue looked all the way in. We carried on drilling deeper and over a wider area until we got somewhere near the extremities of the disease, and we applied disinfectant to the wound we left.

This is quite time consuming on each bleed but we are getting better at it and we want to do our best to help the trees!

If we were to do nothing, there is a significant risk that we could lose many of the larger oaks over the next 3-5-10 years. Very hopefully, this will flip the odds more in favour of those mighty and majestic trees. We will try our best for them!

25/04/2026

All are welcome to tomorrow's Open Day at the Woods. The weather is looking good - perhaps too good as the water level is already dropping in some of the ponds! - and the bluebells are looking great! The bramble clearance we did is making a big difference, for sure :-)

The last week has been hectic with us cutting some special timber tissue samples from the sides of 3 of our large oak trees, and then delivering them down to the government 'Alice Holt' research lab near Farnham, Surrey. The team there are trying to gain a better understanding of the AOD disease, which is a complex one as it comprises a beetle plus three different types of bacteria plus a fungus, all working together and frequently killing the tree :-( They said that nobody else had offered any tissue samples at all this year so ours were going to be especially important. Otherwise, there would be no research! Hence, we thought it appropriate to take the slabs down there ourselves. Having the opportunity to pick their brains while we were there was brilliant, and potentially invaluable in terms of helping us to formulate our strategy for responding to the disease. It's a changing situation but we are doing our best to take care of the Woods!

Free entry to the Open Day but donations are always very welcome! 10am-3:30pm (last entries at 2:30). Thank you :-)

10/04/2026

Housing Update:

Many of you know that there has been a new housing project that gained outline Planning approval for ~1,270 houses on Robey's Lane, opposite the Woods. That was promoted by a Land Agent called Hallam and we lobbied them many, many times from the end of 2016. They did take some notice and we can be glad, and grateful, that the plan included much more green space and new woodland buffer planting next to the Woods than they were legally required to do. They also incorporated our request for a deterrent against domestic cats coming across the road and into the Woods in the form of a linear 'SUDS' drainage feature. That SUDS feature will hopefully protect the voles etc within the Woods, as well as the barn owls that rely upon the voles!

We tried long and hard to get firm commitments that there would be some support to offset our predictions of a major increase in the antisocial behaviour that we've sadly suffered ever since my late wife and I took on the Woods in 2007. (Our concerns were substantiated by research done in similar situations by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust where they found that antisocial behaviour increased dramatically as housing came closer to their nature reserves.)

Hallam said they "should" be able to provide the Woods with mains services and we've raised the topic with them many times since they said that back in 2019.

Hallam have recently sold the entire project to a housebuilder that will construct all 1,270 houses so Hallam are no longer involved. That housebuilder is Persimmon Homes and we were delighted to have two representatives from their team come to meet us at the Woods on 8th April, which just happened to be the 8th Anniversary of Sarah dying - Rosie, my Lovely Lady partner, and I were hoping she might be able to help us :-)

We showed them all around the Woods and explained our main worries. They were very understanding and seemed very genuine in their desire to help - they said they "want to be good neighbours" - but were unable to commit to anything definite. The issue of mains services was said to be very difficult for them as the Woods is on the other side of the road to all their housing and there would be no way of bringing a connection to the Woods without closing the road, which would be a major issue for them and for Warks Highways. Realistically, it seems very unlikely to happen so we are pushing forward with our Plan B of off-grid solar power at our own cost.

Persimmon thought they might be able to help us with improvements to our boundary fencing and we need to provide them with details of what we would want and where, which we will do ASAP. (Any recent visitors to the Woods will know that our gateway etc is falling apart so it is in urgent need of repair/replacement!) If Persimmon are unable to help soon then we will likely go ahead with our own improvements, at least to the gateway area, again at our own cost.

All in all it is very disappointing that the repeated but vague comments from Hallam about mains services are probably going to amount to nothing, and there seems no chance of anything towards our requests for improved CCTV etc. However, we will keep our fingers crossed for any help with fencing.

Nevertheless, we feel there is a genuine desire from Persimmon to help where they are able, and the fact that their project is intended to be a flagship for their company might help as we go on.

From my mental health point of view, virtually 10 years of uncertainty, worry and upset is coming to an end and at least we know. It's a shame in many ways that our hopes for more support are not likely to be realised, but I believe our lobbying has helped to improve the end result from an environmental perspective, even if it hasn't helped our management or sustainability at the Woods. We can now push forward in a more definite way, and that is a positive.

27/03/2026

All are welcome to the Open Day this Sunday, 29th March, the first of our 2026 season.

Please remember the clocks go _forwards_ this Saturday night so we all get an hour less sleep! We will be there for our normal 10am opening on Sunday, perhaps a little bleary-eyed :-)

It is exciting to see the signs of Spring starting around the Woods. The oak trees take a while to wake up but several other species are getting going for another year of growth. The hazel leaves have just opened and are growing with each day that passes :-)

Please note that the bottom of Betty's Wood is still wet so please wear appropriate footwear (wellies or other boots recommended).

Please be wary that the ground is soft and uneven in many places due to the recent rain plus lots of machinery activities during the winter. Please avoid twisting an ankle in a rut in the ground!

The large oak tree that fell a few weeks ago is completely blocking our occasionally-used 'Top Path' around the Ancient Woodland. All visitors (especially children) should please keep well clear of the tree. We have cordoned-off the area as a result. The normal walking route around the Woods is not affected.

It was very sad to see that oak had fallen. The second photo here shows the broken end of one of its roots - you can see all the fine capillary vessels that carried water up the tree. Closeup photos of the structure of trees can be fascinating!

Free entry but donations are always very welcome! Thank you! 🙂

Last entries at 2:30 and we will close at 3:30pm.

15/03/2026

Sooo much rain! The ponds at the Woods are perhaps more full than ever before, and much of the surrounding ground is waterlogged. Part of the bottom of Betty's Wood is 'splosh splosh splosh' territory at the moment, despite some drier weather over the last couple of weeks!

Meanwhile, we have also been continuing with our tree work. Since water is always in very short supply in the summer - and I bet it will be the same again this year, even though we've had a deluge recently! - removing several of the trees around the critical ponds has been on our ToDo list for a while. The latest bit of work on this specific sub-project has been coppicing, again, some of the willows at the top of the main Woods. They will surely grow back, usually surprisingly quickly!

Male goat willows provide a high-value nectar and pollen for bees, hoverflies, and butterflies emerging after the winter. The catkins are critical for queen bumblebees and honeybees in early spring. Hence, we will not cut them all back at once: It is important to phase cutting like this so there is plenty of food for the insects. It's not a problem - There is always next year! :-)

This 'haircut' should give the ponds more of a chance later this year.

26/02/2026

The recent wet weather has re-filled our ponds at the Woods, which is great, but it has also had other consequences. That has included loosening the soil around tree roots such that we've lost another large oak tree.

This is a great shame as the tree in question was probably around 150 years old and, as far as we knew, one of our more healthy ones :-( Notably, it has not been showing any symptoms of the Acute Oak Decline disease that is affecting 20+ mature oaks at the Woods.

The roots don't look great, admittedly, but they also don't look terrible. A different tree that we lost 2-3 years ago had severe rot in the major roots so a bad storm triggered that one to fall. This one came down without any apparent connection to strong wind. It appeared to be largely caused by rain softening the ground around it and leaving it very vulnerable.

The tree is actually located near the entrance at the top of the Woods and in an area where we have recently done a lot of bramble clearance. I'm confident the tree did not fall as a result of anything we have done.

The fact that it is in an area where we have already done bramble clearance means it is prime space to encourage new growth, either through 'natural regeneration' meaning seeing what comes up from seeds that are already in the ground. There is likely sufficient daylight now able to reach the ground surface to encourage that new growth to begin.

New growth and regeneration are key priorities for or ongoing work at the Woods and, to protect that, we expect to be adding some internal fencing to keep muntjac deer from nibbling away all the new shoots that come up! Controlling deer, and controlling squirrels, are key requirements for our work to be approved by the Forestry Commission. They know very well how deer and squirrels can have such a serious impact on woodlands across the country. We are 'lucky' that we only have the smaller muntjac deer species: Many other woodlands have to put in much taller fences to deter red deer and roe deer, for instance. Fencing of any kind can look unsightly but we don't want to have bare areas of ground in another two years where young trees should be growing! We have to give new tree (and other flora) growth a chance so areas of fencing will be coming in due course. More on that later :-)

30/01/2026

January has been another busy month for us at the Woods (despite us both struggling with the grotty cough/cold that has been going around!). The winter is invariably when a lot of the work happens as that is when the trees are dormant.

We had Carl Deeley bring his Avant flail mower to have a blitz at the bramble in the Ancient Woodland. We can do some of the bramble control ourselves with the tractor but some of the ground is very uneven and it gets too scary, or plain dangerous, to go to some places with it. Carl's machine is much more 'off-road' and the mower mounting on the front allows him to cut deep bramble progressively and safely. We had already gone over all of the relevant areas in advance, with guidance and advice from Gary our Ecologist, marking the bits to cut and the bits to leave. That meant we could be sure to avoid notable habitat features such as log piles as there could be amphibians e.g. toads or newts as well as small mammals hiding in amongst.

This bramble clearance has transformed some large areas of the Woods, whilst being careful not to overdo it: We were cutting no more than 80% of a block so that we were leaving a good 20% remaining as bramble is still valuable habitat to retain. It's good, but we had way too much! With this work, we are bringing it back into a better balance. There is more to do, but that may be next winter and beyond.

We also had the tree surgeons from Middleton Tree Services back for another session, this time working towards the bottom of Betty's Wood. We have been widening the 'rides', as woodland paths are called. This will allow us to migrate to a multi-zone mowing approach and that helps to boost the variety of vegetation species and also age ranges, which, in turn, boosts the biodiversity in the form of insects etc that can live in and on them. All good! All that tree work has resulted in a lot of wood chip on the ground that we need to shift when we have time: That will probably be quite a lot of raking and shovelling into the trailer in due course! No rest for the wicked!

The winter is a busy and also an expensive time with the succession of contractors we've had (with more to come in due course!), but they all help us to get a lot done as we know we are in 'catch-up' mode! We are very grateful when several of the guys have been able to give us a discount rate as they approve of the work we are doing at the Woods.

It's lovely when people see the value in proper management of precious sites such as the Woods: It's hard work and sometimes a struggle in other ways, but we love to see the way that Nature responds in the months and years beyond.

We can't wait to see how many bluebells etc come up this spring :-)

23/12/2025

December has been another busy month at the Woods. We had a team of tree surgeons helping us with some important thinning work, to help create space for the trees to grown healthily and to encourage the next generation to begin.

Reducing the bramble is important as well as creating some gaps in the tree canopy. Light is the vital ingredient for a woodland, and ideally light at a variety of levels to promote a range of growth.

This looks very drastic - it is! - but it will bounce back.

We used a heavy duty stump grinder to remove some of the stumps in the ground to improve our access for later management. We know the bramble will recover probably faster than we want so we will need to get in with the tractor etc to re-cut it a few times.

We have problems with muntjac deer and especially when new shoots are beginning because they love to nibble them. That can wreck new growth so will be actively looking at putting up some sections of fencing to create 'exclusion' zones, as the Forestry Commission call them. Thankfully, 'our' muntjac don't seem to bother jumping high so waist-high fencing seems to be fine as a deterrent. If we had red deer, it would be a very different matter and the FC would insist on us installing 5'/1.5m high fencing, at least!

Address

Robey's Lane
Tamworth

Telephone

+441827286267

Website

http://www.alvecotewood.co.uk/

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