When managed in this way the rods that grow long and straight and can be used for many crafts and products, including bean poles, pea sticks, charcoal production, firewood, spoons, and hedge laying materials such as stakes and binders.
Coppice wood is cut on a cycle, the length of which determines the size of rod that is required, with the woodland being divided into coups equal to the number of years in the cycle. The coppice woodland at Winter Hill Road is cut on a seven year cycle, and is therefore split into seven coupes that are each cut in turn.
Management in this way can extend the life of the tree, creating a self-renewing source of timber. It is estimated that well managed Hazel stools can survive for several hundreds of years.
Wildlife
Coppicing mimics the natural processes that occur after a large mature tree falls, allowing light to reach the woodland floor and the opportunity of other species to thrive.
Traditional coppice management increases biodiversity and creates a variety of vegetation heights within the wood, and is great for bluebells, wood anemone, germander speedwell, marsh marigold and violets. Coppicing is especially good for woodland fritillary butterflies and Dormice also.
The coppiced areas of Winter Hill Woods have the added benefit of being managed in a Coppice with Standards style, creating multi-storied woodland with even-aged patches of understorey coppice, and a partial over storey of uneven aged oak standards.
These oak standards are home to a great deal of species associated with dead wood and decay habitats, including notable beetle, moth and hoverfly species.