{"id":688,"date":"2017-11-10T15:45:44","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T15:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/woodlandcrofts.org.cp-27.webhostbox.net\/?p=688"},"modified":"2020-07-11T06:20:28","modified_gmt":"2020-07-11T06:20:28","slug":"woodland-crofting-changed-my-life-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodlandcrofts.org\/?p=688","title":{"rendered":"Woodland Crofting Changed My Life (part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The concept of a woodland croft provides a modern framework for two traditional ways of life. In the concluding part of a 2 part guest post, author Ros Nash offers advice to other would-be woodland crofters based on her own experiences at Cogle Wood.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyone who\u2019s self-employed can feel proud that they\u2019re doing their own thing. What\u2019s special about woodland crofting is that it provides a modern structure or framework that brings together two traditional ways of life, crofting and forestry.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re thinking my lifestyle could work out for you too, you\u2019re probably right. Here are some things to think about before you spend your life savings on a bunch of trees:<\/p>\n

– Firstly, location is everything<\/strong>. You can\u2019t currently be a woodland crofter unless your woods are in one of the crofting counties. In other words, find a wood that\u2019s in Argyll, Caithness, Inverness, Ross & Cromarty, Sutherland, Orkney or Shetland, or alternatively one of the newly croft-able areas of Arran and Moray. This is purely for historical reasons, but that\u2019s the law.<\/p>\n

– It\u2019s worth knowing that in legal terms, the Crofting Commission<\/a> doesn\u2019t distinguish between a woodland croft and any other kind. But the people who decide if you are eligible for grant funding do (we’re working on this! – ed.)<\/em>. Don\u2019t get into it if you think it\u2019ll make you rich<\/strong>. Your bank balance might not increase, but your quality of life, or happiness, will. We have several income streams planned for our woodland. Selling firewood is the obvious first step when you live among maturing trees, and we\u2019ve enjoyed success with our local firewood business. But we won\u2019t be retiring any time soon.<\/p>\n

– Consider some basic chainsaw training<\/strong>. If you\u2019re part of a couple, it helps if at least one of you knows what you\u2019re doing with a chainsaw. Without your chainsaw tickets, you\u2019ll be limited as to what you can do to manage the forest.<\/p>\n

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– Think about how much remoteness you can handle<\/strong>. Our croft is a ten-minute drive from a decent-sized supermarket, and a five-minute drive from a village with a shop, post office, pub and primary school. It doesn\u2019t feel massively remote to me. Forestry and crofting may be traditional pursuits, but technology, and specifically 4G internet, allows us to stay in touch with other people and what’s happening elsewhere, which is vital for us.<\/p>\n

– Do some research before you decide if you want to be an owner-occupier crofter or a<\/strong> tenant crofter<\/strong>. Some local authorities are keener on woodland crofters living and working together as tenants and communities than \u2018lone\u2019 woodland croft owner-occupiers. There are pros and cons to each choice.<\/p>\n

– Talking of cons, don\u2019t try to outwit your local planning authority<\/strong>. If you don\u2019t really want a croft but just fancy living among some trees, they won\u2019t be fooled. You\u2019ll need to demonstrate some commitment to your chosen path. Woodland crofting may provide a bridge between two very old ways of working the land, but woodland crofts themselves are so new that many people don\u2019t yet get it as a concept. You\u2019ll need to work with both the Crofting Commission and the Forestry Commission<\/a>. The good news is that new woodland crofts are slowly popping up and people are catching on.<\/p>\n

– If, like me, you\u2019ve always been a townie, try living in the countryside for a year or two<\/strong> before jumping the city ship. You need to find out whether you enjoy it or whether the peace and quiet makes you feel lonely, or even isolated. It\u2019s not for everyone. We\u2019re lucky to have found a sense of community spirit in the rural setting we chose; of course, you can find this mentality of looking after each other in urban environments too.<\/p>\n

– If you\u2019re on Twitter, follow @WoodlandCrofts<\/strong> for regular updates from a real champion of and advocate for woodland crofters.<\/p>\n

– If you\u2019re still keen after all that, go into it with your eyes open<\/strong> and full of realistic optimism. It\u2019s a good idea to go and visit some woodland crofters before you buy a forest. Ask them what a typical day involves. You\u2019ll be a pioneer of sorts, and you\u2019ll encounter successive obstacles while you\u2019re getting set up. Keep going – it\u2019s worth it, I promise. We still have many hurdles to jump but we\u2019re enjoying the journey.<\/p>\n

What else can I say except that I wish more people knew woodland crofting existed? I\u2019ve never been more happy or excited about life. And if you\u2019re swithering, wondering how you\u2019d fare once you launch yourself headfirst from the hamster wheel, remember this: the wheel doesn\u2019t stop turning just because one wee hamster jumps off. There are millions of opportunities to jump back on popping up every day, should you ever want or need to. But if you\u2019re really ready for something new, you won\u2019t look back. What are you waiting for?<\/p>\n

You can follow Ros on Twitter @RosNashAuthor<\/em><\/p>\n

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The concept of a woodland croft provides a modern framework for two traditional ways of life. In the concluding part of a 2 part guest post, author Ros Nash offers advice to other would-be woodland crofters based on her own experiences at Cogle Wood. Anyone who\u2019s self-employed can feel proud that they\u2019re doing their own […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodlandcrofts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodlandcrofts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodlandcrofts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodlandcrofts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodlandcrofts.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=688"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/woodlandcrofts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":727,"href":"https:\/\/woodlandcrofts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688\/revisions\/727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodlandcrofts.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodlandcrofts.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodlandcrofts.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}