Capturing the wisdom of woodlanders - a photographer's eight-year journey to document woodland traditions in the South East

Over the past eight years, traditional woodland workers in the South East have been captured through a collection of stunning portraits by photographer, filmmaker, and writer Keith Lovegrove. His book Woodlanders celebrates the lives, skills, and deep-rootedness of those who live and work in the woods, from horse loggers and charcoal burners, to basket weavers and gate makers.

One of the big questions for the Lost Woods project, is how can we help more people connect with woodland culture in the Low Weald and South Downs, when people are spending less time in nature? We caught up with Keith to find out about the story behind the project and how he was inspired by the people he met to get involved in a volunteer conservation group at his local woodland.

(Pic above: Jill, woodland owner and spoon carver ©Keith Lovegrove)

‍What made you decide to embark on this project?

Around a decade ago, I signed up for a forestry-skills course with the sole intent of learning how to use a chainsaw safely. The plan was to make use of the numerous wind-fallen trees that litter the local roadsides to fuel our woodburning stove. Hot on the heels of my qualification, the course instructor asked if I would accompany him to collect a load of timber from a chestnut coppice wood in north Kent – and, while I was there, would I take some photographs of a group of apprentices that may be working there? Approaching the entrance to the coppice from the busy public road, the woodland seemed quiet and deserted – a feeling soon dispelled by an enticing hint of woodsmoke hovering in the air.

Following the twists and turns of a rutted track running through a mixture of standing chestnut, younger coppice and mature oak, we reached a clearing in the trees. A series of bashas roped to chestnut poles served as a temporary shelter from a threatening sky; a blackened iron kettle steamed over a fire as cutters and pale makers felled, split and stacked.

I was introduced to the apprentices and the foreman, Chris Keeler (who is now Lost Woods woodland management trainer). What began as a pictorial record of working practices and processes soon developed into a collection of portraits. That small industrious community of exuberant apprentices and their dedicated instructors, their warm welcome and their anecdotes, formed the inspiration for an eight-year photographic project that became the Woodlanders book.

Who did you meet?

During my photographic travels from wood to wood, like the spreading fungal tendrils of mycelia, the more woodlanders I met, the more I was told of other woodlanders that ‘deserved’ the focus of my lens: charcoal makers, coppice cutters, post and pale makers, horse loggers, wood carvers, cabin builders, flood-management engineers, basket makers, tree planters, seed collectors and ecologists.

From the moment that I met Chris Keeler in that coppice glade a decade or so ago, as he quietly imparted an impressive knowledge of all aspects of his profession, I sensed an inherent authenticity that I have encountered with all the woodlanders that I have met since, and at the heart of it is a profound respect for their environment.

What did you discover about woodland culture and woodlander communities in the south-east?

At the outset of the Woodlanders project, I attended monthly meetings of the local coppice cooperative and have met with woodreeves, coppice workers and woodland owners. Some families go back several generations, with tales of great-grandfathers felling with axes and two-person saws. In chestnut woods locally, ancient coppice stools several metres in diameter are a testament to the long life of the trees, extended as they have been by human intervention with the obvious ecological benefits that provides.

A manager on the administrative fringes of the coppice world cautioned me that I would find it difficult to break into the inner sanctum of the industry; woodlanders would be reticent about standing in front of a camera. The opposite was true. I found them dignified and regularly eager to divulge the workings of their craft and environment, even, from time to time, to share their trials and tribulations. After all, this is the real world, albeit surrounded by birdsong and butterflies. The personalities, stories, knowledge, skill, graft, sense of pride and unquestionable care for the woodlands in which they work and – in some cases – live became both infectious and irresistible.

My original intention was to travel up, down and across the country searching for woodlanders to photograph. Years later, I barely left the southeast corner of England, such is the concentration of subject matter.

My book of portraits is dedicated to those for whom woodlands are a place in which to dwell, to ply a trade and who, in turn, take care of a most precious habitat.

‍Do you have a particular connection with woodlands?

Many of the instructors, apprentices and subsequent woodlanders that I photographed have become good friends.

Over the past ten years, having worked in coppice woods and spent many hours discussing and soaking up the seemingly infinite knowledge of those professionals, I now volunteer for two days a week in our local village woodland and the woodland in the grounds of Chiddingstone Castle. I work alongside enthusiastic and hard-working teams of like-minded folk who are intent on creating a sustainable environment.

It is heartening that, within just a few years, we have noticed a marked increase in diverse species of flora and fauna, and the health of the trees has improved significantly.

Are there any particular woodland skills that you think are at risk of being lost?

I can only answer that question in respect of what I witness. Of course, there is mechanisation and in the main, it is an essential aid to gather and process the coppice crop – but I have also seen that traditional brain-eye-hand skills are still very much in use.

Horse logging, for instance, is ideally suited to low-impact sustainable woodland management and benefits the woodland in so many ways. I have watched Frankie Woodgate and Richard Styles of Weald Woodscapes work with their horses on many occasions and have returned a few years later to the woodlands that they have worked on; the rich biodiverse results speak for themselves.

The craft of woodland management is alive and kicking – tree planting, selective felling, hedge laying and chestnut coppicing, of course, along with the resulting shaping of post, stake and paling products. The artistry of weavers such as Lisa Dear and Flo Hamer, for instance, is a joy to behold – not only for the finished product, but also watching them create and progress their skills indicates that techniques and designs are being reviewed and modified, which is creatively healthy.    

Do you think as a society we have lost our connection with woodland habitats?  How we can reconnect?

There is no doubt that a high percentage of the population has little or no connection with the woodland habitat, but it is changing, particularly in parallel with the ecological emergency that is higher on the media agenda than it was a few decades ago.

At a fundamental level, a walk through the woods stirs the senses of sight, smell and sound.

I often stop to perch on a fallen trunk or stump and soak up the ambience; to see the wood from a different angle, I lie down and look up through the canopy, and when I remember to take my magnifying glass, study the minutiae of mosses and insects.

There are numerous opportunities in which to engage with woodlands, and the versatility of activities makes the experience open to many.

Volunteering in your local woodland can be rewarding and productive, either in private or public-access woods, and there is a great feeling of making a difference – forest schools for adults as well as children – and in all seasons, there is much to see and do. When it is too dark or relentlessly raining torrents, and the arboreal appetite is still not whetted, join associations, follow online blogs and read the vast range of books on the subject.

Find out more

To learn more about Keith or to order Woodlanders: Portraits from the Woods, visit his website.

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