'An Illustrated Guide To Ancient Woodland Pasture in Scotland'

by Peter Quelch

Native Woodland Adviser, Forestry Commission, National Office For Scotland.

A Review by Peter McCracken

This new guide entitled 'An Illustrated Guide To Ancient Woodland Pasture in Scotland', has been writen by Peter Quelch the well known and widely repected Forestry Commission Native Woodland Advisor based in Lochgilphead, Argyll. The Guide has been produced not as an F.C. publication but rather as the result of a Millenium Forest for Scotland Award Scheme. Peter has pulled together a fascinating collection of photographs with lucid text to bring this very important aspect of our woodland environment to the fore.

The purpose of the guide is stated: "to first introduce the reader to the concept of wood pasture,..to look at some examples in Scotland and get a feel for the habitat talked about..and secondly to look in detail at the range of natural and historical features that make wood pastures and the veteran trees they contain so interesting." The great attraction of the subject is the breadth of different specialist interests that can be brought to bear in its study. This diversity is represented by input from practical land managers to scientists expert in the fields of insects, lichens etc, through to historians and archaelogists. Above all the guide displays Peters passion for, and careful observation of, the native woodlands of Scotland in which he has worked for many years.

The guide is separated into two parts. The first explores the Wood Pasture and Parkland itself in detail. From definitions to an examination of the origins, both cultural and practical, of different types of wood pasture. Comparisons and examples are discussed around Scotland and Scandinavia. Three types of wood pasture are described: lowland wood pasture and parkland; cultural landscapes in the foothills and glens; and unenclosed upland wood pasture of natural origins. The second part of the guide looks at the Features of Ancient Wood Pastures. Features at the landscape and stand scale are discussed as well as the features of the wood pastures as cultural landscapes. Peter also includes a look at individual trees, many of which are venerable survivors, that comprise the ancient wood pastures. He also includes a section on his personal passion, the Epiphytic Plant Features of individual trees. These mosses, liverworts, lichens, ferns and flowering plants are lovingly reproduced in a series of photographs of which he can be justifiably proud.

A useful set of appendices is included with helpful directions to further reading and to sites to visit in Scotland.

This is a great read and a useful reference for anyone interested in woodlands in Scotland, or professionally involved with their management. Peter's description of the wood pastures in the landscape that we all see as we walk or work in the Scotish countryside, powerfully connect their biological reality with the centuries (or millenia) of human interactions that have helped shape them. Any study of woodland environments, which includes and recognises the importance of human interactions is to be hugely welcomed. In our small island there are very few places that have not been shaped by human action (or inaction) and this guide shows us how much information there is to be gleaned from careful study of these woodland landscapes.

Read the Guide now in PDF FORMAT (you must have Adobe Acrobat installed). You can save it to your own computer or print it from Adobe Acrobat.

If you do not have Acrobat it is available for free. Please click on the box below.

The guide is also available free in PDF format directly from Peter Quelch, by email or on CD ROM (please return the CD to him after copying/reading or pass it on to another interested party). Contact him at:peter.quelch@forestry.gsi.gov.uk.

Write to Peter Quelch, Forestry Commission, Whitegates, Lochgilphead, Argyll, PA31 8RS, or tel. 01546 602518.