Ashton Hayes Carbon Neutral Project

Ipso Facto · #1 (**permalink**) 08-05-2007, 09:30 AM

Some of you may have heard of a small village in Cheshire called Ashton Hayes - there has been quite a lot of coverage in the national press and the media in general about the Carbon Neutral Project. Ashton Hayes has declared its intent to try to be the first carbon neutral village in England and it has stirred up interest from places as far away as Castlemain in Australia who apparently do give a XXXX about global warming.

The following aren't particularly good pictures - it's difficult to get a good picture of a load of green tubes - but Andrew's Wood is a newly planted area of woodland on the edge of the village. Originally planted in memory of a local farmer's son who tragically died at the age of 21, the wood has now become part of the project's carbon sink.

This is the third summer and the promise of the new wood is definitely beginning to show: the larger trees are obviously much older self-setters! The area shown used to be a wooded glade about 50 years ago but was cleared in order to graze cattle; it is now being reclaimed for nature. Several thousand saplings were planted this time, all broad leafed, and the mortality rate seems to be about 5-10% so there may be a bit of replanting to do later but all we have to do for now is sit, wait and enjoy it.