Here you can find out more about what we’ve been up to recently at elfwoods. To find out about upcoming events, courses and volunteer days, please subscribe to our mailing list.
Watching wolves nibbling the sun
We enjoyed watching the partial solar eclipse today in this volunteer-led activity. 25 pairs of solar glasses were kindly provided by Go Stargazing – Check them out! Find out more
Summertime Busyness – July & August volunteer days
Busyness on our summertime volunteer days included working on heathland management; selectively felling trees; chopping firewood; crafting outdoor furniture; crafting and erecting a new sign for the site entrance… Find out more
Bracken a sweat – July 3rd 2022 volunteer day
Controlling invasive species is a large part of the work involved in managing our heathland habitat, and has been a main focus for the past few volunteer days. It can be a seemingly endless task, but many hands make light work, and we’re truly grateful to our volunteers for the great progress we’ve been making with this over the past month. It’s hard physical labour, and with the heathland bathed in warm summer sun we definitely broke a sweat today. Find out more
elfwoods summer gathering 2022 – Celebrating woodland culture
There was a festive mood in the air at elfwoods last weekend as our growing community gathered en masse to celebrate the arrival of summer and our achievements over the past year: A weekend forming new friendships and deepening existing ones through activities, food, music, drinks and general merriment in the stunning natural surroundings. Find out more
Breaking bracken, breaking bread – June 2022 volunteer days
This month we have been scything bracken and making benches and a table that looks like some sort of mythological creature But it’s not all hard work for our volunteers. As a woodland community it’s also important we take care of ourselves, and each other. We chat, we laugh, take breaks for drinks and share wholesome food and delicious treats. Find out more
Beds and trenches – 21st May 2022 volunteer day
Some of us spent time on our agroforestry project in the budding community garden, planting the seeds for a project we envision will not only feed the community garden volunteers, but the wider elfwoods community and residents in the immediate vicinity. The remainder of us worked on the heathland, removing gorse and bracken and making more benches for our numerous fire pits. Find out more
Beltane – A community celebration of fertility and regeneration
We gathered to celebrate Beltane, an ancient Celtic festival where the ancestors of these lands came together to celebrate the return of fertility to the land and the final letting go of the Winter season. It was a beautiful day of interweaved festivities and fun. Find out more
Benches from branches – 1st May 2022 volunteer day
Dylan, elfwoods’ woodland manager and Built by Artizans boss, joined us to lead volunteers in creating benches out of elfwoods sweet chestnut roundwood. After splitting logs we learned how to peel the bark and sapwood using a drawknife; and then how to affix the legs using mortise and tenon joints. Find out more
Squatters and ironstone – 23rd April 2022 volunteer day
Grubbing out gorse is hard work as it grows a long and strong tap root. Some of volunteers took up the task with athletic vigour, while others went for the slow but steady approach. All in all we fattened our bonfire plenty, and the heather now has a lot more light and space to grow. We also unearthed some ironstone, and talked about perhaps using this to create a natural dye for use in the Woodland Pavilion. Find out more
Gorse flowers and fire pits – 10th April 2022 volunteer day
Our first volunteer day of Spring saw some new faces join what’s becoming our budding regular volunteer community. We worked under a warm sun and amongst the first bracken stems awakening from their winter slumber and surrounded by the intense yellow of the gorse flowers Find out more