THE Forestry Commission has granted permission for the Froyle Estate to carry out forestry operations in Row Wood. The 17.72 acre wood is situated to the rear of houses in Old Odiham Road and Upper Anstey Lane, Alton, and stretches east towards Holybourne. To start within the next two to three weeks, the work is expected to continue until February and will involve a mixture of felling and thinning. Restocking is to be achieved by natural regeneration of native broadleaved species. The operation is being handled on behalf of the Froyle Estate by Savills, who are keen that the local community should know what is going on in the wood. According to Savills project manager Crispin Mahony, in order to achieve natural regeneration it will be necessary to burn the unusable waste (branches, tops etc) on site, and the Environment Agency has issued the relevant licence. Once the work begins, the permissive footpath that currently runs through the middle of the wood will be closed and public access prohibited for health and safety reasons. On completion of the work, the wood will be deer- fenced to protect the young trees and the permissive footpath rerouted to the outer eastern edge of the wood, to link up with Howards Lane in Holybourne. The new path will be appropriately signed. This is to be an extensive felling operation, which will result in up to 50 per cent clearance of the ancient woodland site. But, say Savills, the work is necessary and is being carried out as part of the forestry rotation of the estate. According to Mr Mahony, felling last took place 40 years ago. At that time, the whole wood would probably have been flattened in order to harvest the native broadleaves. But as demand for broadleaf timber was on the decline, they were replaced with the more commercially viable, red cedar and larch. These trees have now come to the end of their natural life and are ripe for harvesting. It is no longer acceptable to completely flatten woodland, so Row Wood is to undergo selective felling. Sitting as it does on one side of a valley, the wood drops away from the houses to the west and there is a thick broadleaf edge running along the western boundary. It is intended to keep this band of trees to maintain a screen so that the appearance of the wood should not change for residents living along the Old Odiham Road and Upper Anstey Lane. There will be a difference, however, when viewed from the Holybourne side. The intention is to thin 30 per cent of the western red cedars standing in 1.07 hectares at the northern end of the wood (1b on the map - known as Little Down Copse) but to leave the next 1.60 hectares (4a) of recently planted new woodland untouched. The main body of the wood (11.07 hectares - 1a) will see the northernmost part (4.23 hectares) stripped of all western red cedar and larch, but with the retention of woodland edge broadleaved trees and any broadleaves within the wood itself. The southern section will see up to 50 per cent thinning of larch to remove any poor trees. The most southerly tip of the wood (3.35 hectares - 4) will be subject to selective felling). The timber will be used mainly for fence posts, panelling and wood pulp. The estate is using this opportunity in the rotation to reinstate an area of ancient woodland and ancient semi-woodland to native broadleaved species. While this is to be achieved, where possible, by natural regeneration, planting will take place, if and when, needed. The Froyle Estate has in the region of four kilometres of footpath and bridleways, both public rights of way and permissive paths (open at the landowner's discretion) running across its land. It will reroute the permissive path, which currently runs through Row Wood, but not until the work is completed. Mr Mahony pointed out that the woodland site has been the subject of recent fires, many of them started, it is thought, by children playing or barbecuing in the wood. The floor is carpeted in most places by a thick layer of larch needles, which in the dry weather act as perfect tinder and catch fire very quickly, creating fears for public safety. As a result, and due to the deer fencing, the rerouted path will go around the outer perimeter of the wood. The message from Savills is clear: "Once the work commences, members of the public are asked to follow any instructions given by the (timber felling) contractors in order to maintain public safety."
