‘The Hinge’, 10×10cm, ink on paper, framed.

Coppicing the woodland north of Peasmarsh revealed the secrets of the people who have kept these trees healthy for hundreds of years. An overgrown, dark, dank understorey can be rejuvenated by simply letting the light flood back in. Once upon a time oaks were kept under close watch. When it was their time they were felled and others given a chance to grow. After the World Wars coppicing declined and the oaks grew to enormous proportions. They were grand but they strangled those below them. This image shows the technique for felling where you trim the ‘buttresses’ from the sides of the tree and cut a hinge point. A wedge is hammered into the rear cut and, all being well, the tree falls where you intended it to fall.

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