18th April 2005

Woodland Crafts Weekend

So what’s a billhook for? Are hazel hurdles complicated to make? How do you make the tines for a traditional wooden hay rake? In fact do you know what tines are?

Find out the answers to all these questions and more at a Coppice Tool & Woodland Craft Exhibition to be held at Rowhill Nature Reserve, Aldershot on Sunday 30th April and Monday 1st May.

Members of the Rowhill Nature Reserve Society have organised the exhibition, which will help you find out more about the crafts and tools that were once used for traditional woodland management. Some of the crafts are still in use today and over the weekend there will be an opportunity to see craftsmen at work making items such as hazel hurdles and wooden rakes in the traditional manner.

Whilst you are at Rowhill do leave some time to wander round Rowhill Nature Reserve’s 55 acres. There are a number of different trails you can follow and spring is the best time to wander through the woodland and see the flowers at their best, look out for wood sorrel, wood anemone, violets and wood spurge, to name just a few – there may even be some bluebells! Listen to the bird song and see if you can tell the difference between the call of a Green Woodpecker and the Great Spotted Woodpecker.

The exhibition is open to all and will be held in the Rowhill Field Centre, located off Cranmore Lane, Aldershot by the junction of the A325. The Centre is open on both days from 10am to 4.30pm, admission is free and light refreshments will be available. For more information ring 01252 319749 or 01252 331353.

This event is part of the ‘Discover the Blackwater Valley 2006 Programme’ collated by the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership and designed to encourage residents within the Blackwater Valley area to learn more about the countryside on their doorstep. For a copy of the programme ring 01252 331353 or visit www.blackwater-valley.org.uk

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For further information contact:
Christine Reeves, Visitor Promotions Officer on 01252 331353. 

Notes

• Rowhill Nature Reserve lies on the Surrey/Hampshire borders. Owned by Rushmoor Borough Council it is managed by the Rowhill Nature Reserve Society. Covering 55 acres, it consists of mixed woodland, a four-acre meadow, ponds, streams, a bog around the source of the River Blackwater, about eight acres of heathland and some native conifers., This very diverse habitat supports a wide variety of flora and fauna.
• The Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership (BVCP) is funded by the County, District and Parish Councils along the River Blackwater. It works to promote community action in conservation and recreation and to protect the Valley for the enjoyment and well being of the whole community.
• Members of the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership are: Hampshire County Council, Surrey County Council; the District, Town and Borough Councils of Blackwater & Hawley, Bracknell Forest, Farnham, Guildford, Hart, Rushmoor, Sandhurst, Surrey Heath, Waverley, Wokingham and Yateley.