Product Description

Packed with stunning colour photographs, The Woodland Year is an intimate month-by-month journey through Ben Law's yearly cycle of work, his naturally attuned lifestyle and his deep understanding of his woods. Each month also includes guest contributions from woodlanders in other parts of England and Wales. The Woodland Year provides a fascinating insight into every aspect of sustainable woodland management; the cycles of nature, seasonal tasks, wild food gathering, wine making, mouthwatering and useful recipes, coppice crafts, round pole timber frame eco-building (pioneered by Ben in the UK), nature conservation, species diversity, tree profiles and the use of horses for woodland work. This is a profound book that is both practical and poetic. It describes a way of life that is economically and ecologically viable and sets a new standard for managing our woods in a low impact, sustainable way. As such, it holds some of the fundamental keys to how we can achieve a lower carbon society.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43252 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-12
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 176 pages

Review
One of Ben Law's remarkable gifts, besides being arguably Britain's greatest living woodsman, is a knack for inspiring others. The Woodland Year is a month-by-month journey through Ben's woodland in the Sussex Weald, and a celebration of every aspect of sustainable woodland management. In words that are often lyrical but always ungilded, he describes a way of life that is both economically and ecologically viable. As such, it holds some of the fundamental keys to how we can achieve a more sustainable, lower carbon society. Ben is a true pioneer and is quite simply creating a woodland renaissance in Britain. Read this, and you will surely want to be part of it. --From the Foreword by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, TV chef, author and campaigner

The Woodland Year is a triumphant celebration of the re-emergence of our traditional woodland culture. Ben Law expands on his previous writings to take the reader month by month through the activities that sustain his coppice-related livelihood at Prickly Nut Wood. With his usual modesty and good humour, The Woodland Year provides a kaleidoscopic insight into the woodsman s life. Amidst the background narrative of Ben's seasonal tasks at home in the beautiful woods immortalised by Channel 4's Grand Designs appear wildfood recipes (must try the Party Squirrel ), homemade drinks (beech leaf liqueur anyone?) greenwood crafts, building with local timber, profiles of our indigenous trees and fascinating vignettes by another dozen woodlanders. In their own words, each describes his or her own experience of making woodland work a viable and rewarding option. Images of working horses on a winter s dawn, elfish children stoking the fire and sunlight glancing through dappled bluebell woods are realistically balanced with the physical and mental rigours and realities of sustaining a livelihood from wood, woodlands and related activities. Each month we meet charcoal burners, hurdle makers, chairmakers, community woodlanders, teachers and apprentices and also gain a view of the full and rich life that Ben has created managing his own woodland. If, like me, you took Ben's earlier Woodland Way as a definitive textbook on your path to a lower-carbon, more sustainable, low-impact woody-related lifestyle then this book is a joyful reaffirmation that you found the right textbook; that there are others out there successfully enjoying this challenging and rewarding way of life. If like millions of others your imagination was entrapped by Ben's beautiful, quirky, homemade woodland house as it appeared on television, then this book is equally captivating. At once realistic, practical and alluringly tactile it should fairly become a springboard for those seeking a sustainable livelihood from the woods. At the same time it is a fascinating book for the uninitiated to dip into: an introductory trove full of inspiration, colour and wonder. --Henry Dowell, Permaculture Magazine

About the Author
Ben has always colonised the edge of society. He was educated at six different schools due to family moves and personal expulsion. He left school at 15 and worked on a smallholding, growing fruit and vegetables and looking after livestock. Having gained an Advanced National Certificate in Agriculture at Sparsholt College he worked as a shepherd and set up a conservation landscaping business, specialising in ponds and wild flower meadows. Woodlands were a natural progression and after seeking out a few experienced coppice workers, he began work in the woods and in associated coppice crafts. Ben visited the Amazon in the late 1980s looking for positive solutions to deforestation and on his return set up and directed the charity, The Forest Management Foundation, working primarily with community forestry in Papua New Guinea. The bureaucracy of international forest policy and a realisation that true sustainability begins at home, resulted in his returning to the coppice woods of West Sussex to become a forest dweller. He has lived and worked at Prickly Nut Wood for 16 years, trains apprentices and runs courses on sustainable woodland management, roundwood timber framing, coppice crafts and permaculture design. Ben helped set up and chaired the Sussex and Surrey Coppice group and was a founding member of the Forest Stewardship Council. He has also worked for Oxfam as a permaculture consultant in Albania. Ben is most well-known, however, for his 10 year struggle to obtain planning permission to build a house in his own woods, made mainly out of materials from the woodland itself. The eventual building of his beautiful handcrafted house was filmed by Channel 4's Grand Designs programme. As well as being the presenter, Kevin McCloud s favourite programme and house build, it was voted by viewers as the 'Best Ever Grand Designs Build' in 2008.

Customer Reviews

A beautiful and inspirational book
The Woodland Year is a beautifully photographed and produced book. It follows the work and activities month by month in Prickly Nut Wood where Ben Law lives and works, and also in a selection of woodlands around the UK. Each month starts with Bens contribution and description of what he does that month in his woodland, giving information and recipes. Each month also has a contribution from a woodsman working in another area of the country, telling how they make their living and look after the woodland.

Beautifully photographed, this book is an inspiration to many who yearn for a simpler way of life, more in tune with nature and the traditional crafts. In a time when many of us are turning away from the high stress fast paced life developed in the twentieth century, a look through this book will remind us of the simple pleasure and contentment that can be gained from a closer connection to the land within which we are lucky enough to live.

Wood Matters
Ben Law is an inspiring pioneer of a woodland renaissance which is transforming the way we can live. This book takes us on a journey through the year ,connecting us to the flow of the seasons, and putting us in touch with others who work the land.Its written well, beautifully illustrated, and full of well observed detail. Its one of my favourite books to return to as each month turns.

Another one
I thought it's just another book selling on the back of a TV programme with not too much else going for it. Ben Law must be an amazingly skilled man but I thought this book contained little of use other than a bit of story telling. Half the book consist of other people telling what they do in their woods at a given time of year which isn't bad in itself but just adds to my feeling that they had to bulk out the book by adding guest articles and lots of large pictures.