Woodland has been coppiced for 1,000s of years. It involved planting up a clearing (or "coupe") with lots of young trees, which then are allowed to grow for up to 10 years before being cut back to stumps or "coppiced". The cut wood is used for anything from walking sticks to charcoal, while the stump buds and regrows. This process can be repeated time and again for 100s of years. Newly coppiced coupes are light and airy - ideal for woodland wildflowers like bluebell and foxglove and the insects they support. Middle-to-late rotation coupes are ideal habitat for wildlife such as warblers like Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat.
This is a sustainable way of managing woodland that used to provide everyday essentials for communities while at the same time maintaining the health of the woodland habitat. With the Industrial Revolution and the age of mechanisation coppiced woodland was largely abandoned and the ancient skills associated with them almost died out. But now a new generation is reviving old skills and coppicing at Mere Sands Wood is producing carbon-neutral charcoal, firewood and bean-poles.