Mask Wood – A proposed Community Woodland
Asby Tree Group (ATG), founded in 2021, is working with a local landowner, Rob Braithwaite of Bowbridge, to create what is intended to be a publicly accessible area of woodland on the parcel of land known as ‘Mask Wood’. Many readers will already know that the area called ‘Mask Wood’ lies beside the ‘Mask Road’, only a little way south of Campbell’s Garage.
‘Mask Wood’ was felled a number of years ago and was subsequently used for occasional livestock grazing. This will have prevented most natural regeneration of trees and shrubs and any regeneration that did occur was mostly of Goat Willow (Salix caprea). In the winter of 2022/3, after putting a stock-proof fence around the wood’s perimeter (with that work carried out by Great Asby man, Ian Oldcorn), ATG planted over five hundred trees and shrubs of a variety of native hardwood species, together with some Scots Pine. Staff and pupils of Asby Endowed School (AES) assisted with this planting. Along the south side of the wood, a 120m hedge of mixed species was planted.
In 2023, a successful application was made for a BUPA UK Community Grant for funding to construct a Forest School area within the wood, for use by AES and, hopefully, other local schools as well. The Forest School will be used to teach children the skills of working greenwood, using a pole lathe and shave-horses, introducing them to an ancient craft and fostering a closer engagement with woodland and the nature and uses of wood. This Forest School, with a removable ‘parachute’ cover, has now been completed (see picture below).
This year, ATG has been successful with its application for a Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) grant, distributed through the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA). The grant will be used to:
- improve pedestrian access to ‘Mask Wood’
- create a view-point with a bench
- place finger-posts and waymarkers on permissive paths within the woodland area
- obtain a survey and management plan from Cumbria Wildlife Trust (CWT) to inform ATG’s maintenance of the site
- provide training in new woodland management for ATG’s volunteers
- purchase machinery required for maintenance of the site
- purchase nest boxes and bat boxes
- purchase a bat detector, with a view to offering ‘Pipistrelles and Planets’ evenings, with the astronomy element under the guidance of Piers Palmer.
In addition to the existing 1.9ha of ‘Mask Wood’, a proposal is in the pipeline to try to obtain England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) funding to create a new woodland of 2.1ha, with the planting of 2100 trees in part of a field immediately adjacent to ‘Mask Wood’. Discussions are also under way with CWT to seek funding for the creation of a wildlife pond within this additional woodland area. If the EWCO application is successful, there will be an accessible Community Woodland of 4ha very close to the eastern edge of Great Asby.
If you would like to support the work of Asby Tree Group, please get in touch with Keith Cooper –
