One of the subjects that users of the wood have complained about for many years is the state of the paths in wet weather, especially in the winter. Some become virtually impassable. The Friends of Oakley Wood have frequently petitioned WDC for improvements, but cost has always been given as the reason why it was not possible. Still, we persisted.
Well, good news. Income from sale of the timber harvested from the recent thinning operations has been ring-fenced for the benefit of the wood, as we were assured it would. This money is to be used to pay for improvements to the main path network and will undoubtedly make walking in poor weather a much more pleasant experience. Well done WDC!
The full announcement can be read on WDC’s website here. Work is due to begin shortly and should take about a month. Posters have already been put up in the wood with further information about which paths will be affected.
Absolutely the wrong thing to do. A motorway around the woods. It looks horrendous and will still end up underwater along the top of the woods. Maybe clearing the mess that was left behind after the thinning would have been a better way to spend some money. This path is awful. My dog has ended up limping today because it is so stoney/ rough in places. Mud is part of an enjoyable woods walk. My favourite place to walk is being ruined. As for encouraging people to walk after the lockdown invasion today I have seen 3 people in the wood All of them were not happy about the vile path.
I agree it does look stark against the greenery of the wood, but it’s a case of you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Along with dog mess, complaints about the muddy paths are the most frequent, and WDC have just done what’s been asked of them.
Most things just done to the wood look pretty shocking, like thinning, but time is a great healer. I’m reserving my opinion until next year after rain, leaves and feet have had time to work on it.
After all the improvements being done it would be great to have some benches dotted around the wood so people can sit and enjoy the woodland surrounding.
Yes, I think so too. There have been mixed views about seats in the past, negative ones concerned that it would spoil the wild nature of the wood. But in my opinion management of the wood has changed this anyway, and perhaps now more so with the new path. One purpose of this path is to improve access for the less able, and the occasional seat then becomes more important. So this is probably a good time for us to revisit the subject.
Well, we’ve spoken to WDC but there doesn’t seem to be any money available for seats. The best they can offer is for some logs to be left in suitable places following the next logging activity – and that won’t be for some time.
No – I do not wish to see expensive brought-in seats – just a few large logs here and there when the ‘culling’ is going on.
That really cannot be at all difficult – or leave some of the tree stumps at a sensible height for resting on!! There a few thru’ the field-side gate on the left hand side and these work very well.