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Woodlands

1 A brief history of woodlands in Britain

Wildwood

Introduction

Wood-pastures

Woodland clearance and management

Coppicing

Forests

The planting of woodland

The 20th century

2 Woodland flora and fauna

3 Woodlands, trees and the law

4 Safety, equipment and organisation

5 Woodland management

6 Planting and early care

7 The young woodland

8 Felling, clearing and extraction

9 Coppicing

10 Green woodworking

11 Firewood and charcoal

12 Woodland habitats

13 Access and recreation

Appendix A Conservation and the volunteer worker

Appendix B Contacts

Appendix C Grants

Appendix D Training

Appendix E Suppliers

Appendix F National Vegetation Classification

Appendix G Latin Names

Bibliography

Abbreviations

Glossary

Book:	Woodlands
Chapter:	1 A brief history of woodlands in Britain
Section:	Introduction
Metadata:	Details	Buy this book

For the last million years the climate of Britain has been arctic, interrupted with brief warm periods or interglacials of thousands of years, one of which we are part way through. The history of British woodland since the last glaciation is, in geological time, extremely brief, and is inextricably linked with the development of civilization. To quote Oliver Rackham in Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape (1990), 'the gulf of time which separates us from the end of the last glaciation is only about six times as great as that between us and Julius Caesar'.

Table 1a on brief history of woodlands in Britain summarises the changes in British woodland since the last glaciation.