Ruskin Land, Autumn 2024

Companion and Guild board member Frances O'Connor reflects on her first visit to Ruskin Land in the Wyre Forest.

In October 2024, Guild Directors Jenny Robbins, Mark Cleaver and Frances O’Connor met up at Ruskin Land on a glorious autumn weekend in the Wyre Forest in Worcestershire.

Frances writes:
This was my first visit to the Guild’s land in the beautiful Wyre Forest. Jenny walked me
round some of the hundred acres of woodland, meadows and orchards whilst Mark was
busy marking up the trees that needed felling. John and Linda Iles were wonderfully
hospitable and generous with their knowledge as they joined us on the tour. So started my introduction to woodland management!

The predominant trees in the forest are oaks, many of them very old, but by increasing the varieties of trees the plan is to create a more mixed woodland and thus greater biodiversity. Thinning out the trees also allows for a more open habitat to allow wild flowers and butterflies to flourish. Old branches are left in the undergrowth to encourage wild life; we saw toads, beetles and numerous fungi including black witches’ butter on rotting oak. I learnt about how the Institute of Forest Research at Birmingham University is involved in Ruskin Land and its future sustainability.

During our ramble we also came across the Dexter Cattle which graze the area, Wiltshire Longhorn Sheep who graze the orchard at Uncllys Farm and the wild deer who are thriving. It is hoped that one day red squirrels can be reintroduced into the forest.

I discovered the practice of coppicing, by which trees are cut down to ground level so that multiple stems grow from the root stock for harvesting in the future. The bark of some of the coppiced wood is stripped and sold to Britain’s only remaining traditional oak bark tannery, J.& F.J. Baker, founded in 1862 in Devon. I read that leather from this company was used to make the shoes that King Charles wore for his Coronation.

Amongst the trees, the wooden structures built during the Guild’s ‘Studio in the Woods’ art project, although ephemeral were still present, and really beautifully and imaginatively constructed.

At St. George’s Farm Margaret Tunstall, from the Wyre Forest Community Land Trust, kindly showed us around the farmyard and explained the Wyre CLT’s role in managing Ruskin Land. Richard Channing, the Woodyard Manager showed us around the Workshop where he
supervises a team of enthusiastic volunteers who create oak items ranging from bird boxes to garden benches. Wood not suitable for woodworking is sold as firewood.

The following day we returned to the farm to join the Wyre CLT on their Apple Day, ‘A
Celebration of Apples in Art and Juice’. Whilst apples from the Guild orchards were being pressed into juice, art activities were provided for children, and delicious apple cakes were served in the refreshment barn.

Ruskin Land is a wonderful resource for the Guild which will continue to care for this
unique piece of countryside, improve its educational and cultural facilities, support the rural economy and increase access opportunities for all Companions.

All images by Frances O'Connor

Witches black butter

Toad

Dexter cow

Companion and WCLT operations manager, Margaret Tunstall

Studio in the Woods