Barrie Galpin
Up to now I've been discovering parts of Rockingham Forest that are fairly close to home in Fineshade but recently we've been looking closely at the national character area map for Rockingham Forest . This shows more remnants of the former forest further west and it seemed high time to go a bit further afield and explore these parts of the forest that I hadn't visited before.
So one day in July Adam Cade and I set off to explore some woodlands west of Corby and north of Desborough. Trawling the web had revealed that there were Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) one of which, Stoke and Bowd Lane Woods, included a Woodland Trust (WT) site between Stoke Albany and Desborough that we had not heard of before.
Map copied from Defra's Magic Maps
This seemed a good place to begin our exploration. According to the WT website this wood is accessed via a farm track from the B669 road, leading south from Stoke Albany. Part of the SSSI, Bowd Lane Wood was on our left with no access to this privately owned woodland. But at the southern edge of that wood we found a convenient layby. Opposite was a track which we guessed would lead to the Woodland Trust woodland, but there were no signs to indicate whether we were in the right place.
The layby for parking is on the left and the farm track on the right.
So trusting to luck we set off along the track, enjoying the panoramic views to the north, right across to the Welland valley in the distance. Rounding a corner in the hedge we suddenly came on a sign telling us that we were in the right place . This was indeed the Woodland Trust site and a parked vehicle indicated there was someone at work here.
The information panel told us that the reserve occupied 11 hectares, that most was still coppiced on a 15-year rotation, and that there were two parts that are being allowed to return to “high forest”. It looked as if the rides had been mown that very morning and we left the open vistas to the north, through an impressive gate in a deer fence, into a different world. Here was an actively coppiced woodland in all its glory!
The coppiced part of woodland has been divided into coupes, each surrounded by its own fencing. Coppiced Hazel was growing in profusion underneath some splendid standard trees, tall Oaks and Ash, though many of the latter were showing signs of ash dieback.
Going further into the wood we stopped to chat to the contractor, Dave Rowe, who works for Brampton Valley Group Ltd, tree specialists from South Northants. Today Dave was cutting the rides with a brush cutter, a job that is done two or three times a year with great care as befits a site with SSSI status. He also carries out the coppicing work on behalf of the Woodland Trust and told us how much he enjoys working in this very special woodland. It was great to see woodland management being carried out with such skill and care.
Going a little further on into the wood, we came across another sign indicating that this corner is owned by the Wildlife Trust BCN and is another non-intervention area. It's known as Stoke Wood End Quarter and you can read more about it here: https://www.wildlifebcn.org/nature-reserves/stoke-wood-end-quarter
These woods lie within the parish of Brampton Ash, a small village further north on the Market Harborough to Corby Road. The name of the village is an indication that the Ash tree must have played an important part in the heritage these woodlands. It was no surprise to find that In both nature reserves there were very mature Ash, some of it looking quite sadly affected by Ash Dieback disease. In the Woodland Trust part some of the rides are now closed where they have assessed that there is a danger of dead branches and trunks falling onto the rides.
At one point we came upon some amazing Ash coppice stools -- absolutely huge -- many with multiple substantial trunks. There are old Ash coppice stools in Fineshade Wood, but none the size of these beautiful monsters.
Further west again the wood is privately owned and leased by Forestry England.
Apparently Brampton Wood was shown as woodland on the Ordnance Survey 1st edition map of 1891. It was felled and replanted with Norway Spruce in the 1950s and ‘60s but this mostly failed and the wood was partially replanted with Poplar in 1997. The rest was left to naturally regenerate and we found a good range of species including some wild Apples but no Wild Service trees.
There is a hard-surfaced track running north-south through the this part of the wood. As with many other Forestry England tracks and rides in Rockingham Forest, there were wide margins managed for wild flowers and butterflies. As we walked along the northern part into the SSSI area, we noticed coppiced Hazel growing really well on both sides. Some had been protected by a deer-exclosure fence but elsewhere the new growth seemed equally vigorous without the benefit of fencing. There were several high seats for deer stalkers and Dave had told us of the intention of upping efforts to control the deer throughout these woods.
Bridleway though lovely narrow pastures
We made our way to the western edge of the woodland block where a bridleway runs north-south linking up with the Jurassic Way long-distance path. We found that this bridleway runs through a narrow field with a beautiful thick hedge on one side and the wood itself on the other. There were wonderful mature oak trees and we wondered whether this had formerly been parkland or whether these trees were just part of the boundary line for the wood. It looked as if this field had been lightly grazed not long ago and we talked about its potential to become proper wood pasture and the way that could attract substantial grants under the new Defra grant schemes.
Adam and I really enjoyed our first visit to Brampton and Stoke Woods. If, like us, you've never visited this part of Rockingham Forest we'd highly recommend exploring it. There is some brilliantly managed coppice, grassland areas and high forest with some spectacular veteran trees, There's a reasonable network of Rights of Way and, thanks to the Woodland Trust, access to a very special woodland.
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