Owning a Woodland: Day 1 to Day 365 - An amazing experience 

Got to respect this mans love for the outdoors… “my greatest achievement is creating a living bush” the man has a wife and kids 😂😂 never change bro 😎👏🏻

Your passion to protect the woodlands is immaculate everyone should inspire to be like TA outdoors 🎉💯

Hearing you talk about how you won’t see the trees grown but that you’re doing it for future generations was so heartwarming. “Great men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” Excellent work. Beautiful sentiment. Thank you for being a steward of this land and for sharing it with us!

I've loved all your series of videos, but your woodland series is by far my favorite. Watching you and your dad steward the forest is close to my heart. Thanks Mike for all you bring us.

There is a saying that the best time to plant a tree is now and 20 years ago…. I live in a property tress we’re plated 30 years ago and we have a small woodland to look after. Some family and friends have done similar 20 and 10 years ago and they are habitats in there own right, so keep planting, anywhere and everywhere is a great thing to do. And nice to see more of it as I drive through the UK.

you make me feel proud to be a man. best of luck for the future. can't wait to see future videos. best wishes from Scarborough,

I've really enjoyed your woodland series, and this was a lovely summary of the year. I'd love to have a bit of woodland like this

I own a 5 acre piece of woodland & i,m going on my 7th year with it . Back when I bought it , it had a lot of cotton wood trees , sugar, maple & oaks . Me & a friend went through it & inspected as many of the trees that we could to make sure there were no dead standing that could fall on anyone , that’s the first thing we did the second thing we did is cut the dead standing wood up for fire wood & cleaned up all of the paths & made some camping areas . I ended up replacing the woodlands with some edible fruit trees like plum , pear , apple & peach trees along with pine , walnut , spruce , white cedar ,burch , & some dogwood trees . I had a overwhelming infestation of honeysuckle I had to remove that took a whole summer to do , all by hand by the way , I did know you could rent a piece of small machinery that could do the work for you . Now 7 years later everything is looking very good , my fruit trees are big & healthy & all my other trees have filled it the gaps we left tearing out all of the dead standing trees . We left some of the smaller dead standing for building material , noe everything looks very good & im happy with the results.

I’m from Louisiana in the USA and I never seem to be happy about my properties until I bought a home in the country side and now I wouldn’t want to live any other way but in the country so he is a inspiration for many other people.

Great to see you back, a welcome update! If you want to turn any excess wood into a musical instrument, then give me a bell👍

Excellent video Mike. Glad you are remembering to stop and smell the proverbial roses, not just work. I bought my woodlands and meadow at the same time as you did, planted 200 trees and have then sat back, watching the land change through the seasons. This way I do not rush in and spoil the land. Thanks for the inspiration. 🌳

Every once and a while one of your always excellent videos jumps out and 'sticks'. This for me was one of those videos. Your honest and deep felt emotions towards this wonderful wood really comes across. I really enjoyed your attitude and humility as you grow with the woodland around you. Thanks!

When you were talking about the oven you made, and how it detracted from the surroundings, I disagree with your words! I think that you living in harmony and bringing these things in, like the shed, only add to it. Sure it's not a habitat for wildlife but it's all part of the same being. Your passion in keeping this space how it should be is admirable! Love your work btw

some of us don't get tired or bored with cutting wood or whatever else you are doing some of us are here to support you in your regular everyday endeavors

The world could use more people like you. 👏🤝🤜🤛

what a lovely thing to make from the fallen ash tree with your dad. everytime you use it you'll remember the ash tree, the making of the hut and the time spent with your dad, happy memories you have made and that's important. lovely film and glad to meet you and your channel

My favourite was definately the hedgelaying. It really does its job, but it is also beneficial for wildlife and non-obtrusive compared to fences.

Your adventure has been wonderful to follow. It is so nice to see such love of nature. Thank you for letting us join you.

This reminds me of back home SO MUCH but without all the evergreen trees. It's very beautiful. I grew up in the bush. My father built a house back in the early 80's and it was out in the middle of nowhere. We had a little farm and I just remember being outdoors as much as I possibly could. I grew up on the Thousand Islands in Ontario, Canada. So the Boreal Forest starts down there then gets bigger as you go northwest. It is all cottage country around. I lived right on the water as well so it was amazing. I got to experience everything when I was learning how to walk, I was learning how to skate and swim not long after. I grew up doing things most people would probably not like doing if they grew up in a smaller city. My passion was fishing, swimming, playing sports, camping, bushcraft, cross-country skiing, 4wheeling, etc. When I was 13, I was working at a dive shop, and instead of getting paid, my sis and I worked there to get our diving license (back then it was around $500.00 per person) So we ended up working there after we got our licenses so we could rent out the equipment and finally be able to get our own diving set. It's a very expensive hobby, but once you own everything, all you need to buy is the air to fill your tanks. Or if you weren't from the area, you would hire us and we would take you out to shipwrecks and show you the best spots in that area, help you get your gear on, make sure you had a buddy to go with and we'd push you off the side of the boat and we would wait for you to surface nearby and come get ya. lol Anyway, going back to the forest, it's such a magical place. I can still hear the songbirds while walking with my late grandfather in the bush growing up. The sound of chickadees will always bring back happier times. Now I live in western Alberta right nea the Rocky Mountains, and I have been hiking quite a bit through there. Done some camping, too. It's just vastly different. Like, when you go out for an hour, you have to prep for four seasons. lol It's always changing, and it will snow in July at times. The nights are freezing cold, but we have the fold-up cot that is lightweight, so you just unfold and put your mattress pad on it and you're good to go. Also a bonus, barely any bugs. Especially at night. It's far too cold here for a large amount of insects. Back home they are everywhere. I have seen spiders the size of my hand while grabbing wood. There are plenty of medium-sized snakes, too. Most of them are rat snakes or they are harmless water snakes. I hate the gigantic dragonflies. Those things scare me and they bite. They actually are born under water then come out of the water, molt, and fly off. it's pretty awesome, but they still just bother me. Hhaha I'm rambling. ANyway, great video! It was my first time coming to check out what your content was about. I subbed immediately. I love bushcraft. It's a forever love of mine. I can't wait for the camping season starts in Kananaskis Country! It's beyond beautiful, and not far from here!

I love how level the land is. It reminds me of the woods I hunted in southern Alabama growing up.

Glad to see another tree squirrel doing work. I grew up in Michigan around family that did forestry and tree work so I took it for granted, and to be honest, we don't get a lot of attention other than the "hovering" home owners do while we work. There's a lot of valuable advice he'll be able to pass along to you, and of course the biggest reason being safety. We don't have to tell you, staying safe while you're alone or out in the woods is #1 before anything, those techniques will do you well sir! And I imagine it'll be a good bit of content. Enjoy your property brother, I know it has to be like medicine for the soul!

It must be amazing to own your own woodland. It's a dream of mine and it's nice to see someone not only living that dream, but respecting the woodland in such a way as you. If I ever get around to owning a woodland, I'd love to add some small glades for butterflies and birds such as Pied Flycatchers, add a load of scrub to stregthen biodiversity in the scrub layer, maybe some hazel for coppice. It's amazing to see you doing this! Subscribed without hesitation.

This is the first time I've seen this woodland day I think your.a very lucky man to own a wood and the things you can do to help the wood live on and the wild life it will help is great your kids will love it and maybe one day they be at your side giving there dad a hand like your dad did thank you

THANK YOU for filming and narrating a fine overview of your woodland project. I would encourage you to do more camping this year. I don't believe we need you to build new shelters: just enjoy what you have created and show us how the structures have held up.

I have three 'permissions' and have helped to repay them by clearing ditches/water courses, fencing, and sorting out potholes to the access roads - the mundane aspects of wood management Those 'permissions ' stemmed from the fact that I wanted to understand how woods worked so that one day I could buy my own wood. I no longer wish to buy my own wood. I am too old to do that stewardship justice. The ability to buy a wood came too late for me. You are young, and your ability to buy that wood did not happen by 'luck', but by being personable, intelligent and knowledgeable. Your wood is in good hands. Well done, sir.

I just came across this channel whilst looking for ways to improve woodland, so that I can work on my own project. So glad that I found it. Very engaging and interesting. Thank you.

Just come across your channel and watched this video, thoroughly enjoyed it. You’re a true inspiration to the future generations. Definitely on my watch list. 👏👏👍👍

Much love from Switzerland

You're an inspiration, Mike. I've made it a goal of mine to purchase a woodland in the Rhodope mountains in Bulgaria and take care of it with knowledge I've gathered from your channel. Thank you so much.

How lovely! What a gentleman caretaking for nature, we need more people like this man

It´s soo great to see a young man and his family takin´care of such a beautiful place. Lot´s of work, I know :). Thank you so much.

Been a follower of yours for years & love that you’ve got your own piece of woodland, I really look forward to future content! As a sheep farmer I will say that the sheep will be through that lovely fence of yours in no time🤣

Thanks for this exceptional summary of accomplishments over the past year. Looking at all you and your Dad have achieved, I see nothing that should be regretted. How you repurposed that magnificent fallen tree was truly amazing. The memories you've created are priceless. I wish you and your Dad many more years of working in the woodland and teaching all of us what's involved in managing this wonderful gift of nature. Your passion and stewardship are admirable. I look forward to what lies ahead.

thank you from New Zealand

I also own a couple of acres of woodland and can completely relate to you wanting to just go there and immerse yourself within in it without having to film. There are times I've gone to mine and just sat and had a coffee - a calming place which give a release from everyday life. I've been subscribed to your channel for a few years, but not watched many videos - time to go and correct that (especially as it looks like you now own a lightweight 😎👍)😂

The most sincere video I’ve seen in quite a while. Thank you 🙂

"Grandad's trees" made me smile.

One of your most interesting and sympathic videos so far.👍 Congratulations for that fine piece of land. I can really understand that you love spending time there, as I feel the same when I can spend time in my own small woodland. Unfortunately, over here in Germany we´re not allowed to build anything like your small cabin even on own land, but never the less it´s always a joy. Have a good time and thanks a lot for your inspiring channel! Regards, Hubertus 🙂

Bless you for this! Seeing someone engaging in real husbandry is a privilege.

This is the content I crave 🔥🔥🔥

Greetings from a Yorkshireman in BC, Canada! Thank you for uploading this very interesting video. I lived in rural Yorkshire and spent lots of time with my dad managing a wetland nature reserve, Coppicing Hazel and Pollarding Crack Willows and White Willows. In my own cottage I planted a hedgerow and had the pleasure of seeing it grow to maturity and ecological value. In 2014 I bought 20 acres of woodland in BC that had not been managed. We lived in a caravan on the property (3,500 feet above sea level) through 3 winters dropped below -30C, we had no running water, or sanitation, also no electricity for the first year. Living and experiencing 4 seasons in this environment taught us a lot about nature and its struggles. The forest here contained a huge amount of deadfall and was extremely dense to work in. During this time we started to build a log house which has only recently been completed. Global warming is having a big impact on flora and fauna and we are doing our best to support the ecology of our 20 acres. As you may be aware, we have had terrible droughts and wildfires in BC which not only impacts humans but the wildlife too. migratory patterns are changing as animals and birds are disoriented as a result of the fires and smoke we have had. Please feel free to get in touch aas we both have our own stories. Keep up the good work, Chris

Mike, you never cease to amaze me! Through watching your videos I get to experience all the things outdoors that I was never able to do. All though I did camp with my family I'm older now, the kids are all adults and have families of their own and they're in different states here in the U.S.A. Through these videos I get to vicariously live through you and do the things I never got to do. Well done! Take care, Rick

I also aspire to own a woodland and bring it into low-impact management. Thanks for the inspiration to keep dreaming!

Protection of nature for future generations. I couldn’t have said it better. Thank you for caring about the earth and the future generations and sharing and teaching through these videos.

Been watching you since the pandemic. Really enjoy your content and look forward to seeing what else you do.

Lovely content as always. Just a small note, standing deadwood is incredibly important ecologically. From The Woodland Trust: "The rarest kind of deadwood is that of dead trees which still stand. [...] those allowed to remain in place offer incredibly valuable habitat for wildlife that can live nowhere else."

God bless you when you say Grandads trees. If countries were run by people with your thinking we'd be far better off. In the future you will look back and know that you lived your life the right way round. Plus you did it, not just talked about it. I applaud you. Everything else will come with time.

Yes mate! Watched your channel for years now. The last year of content has been absolutely great to watch. Thanks for sharing your treasures with us for so long lol

We bought 11.5 acres of raw woods here in the USA. We built a house and garden on about 2 acres of it and are leaving the rest as woodlands. It is amazing to be able to experience the woods on a daily basis. Like you, I am having to learn woodland management techniques. Being a steward of the land is an amazing spiritual journey.

Only started watching about a month ago. Really enjoying all the episodes. Wish they were marked in order instead of or as well as the year. Blessings to you, your dad and Jack.

ive got a bit of land and when life gets to much i just go and sit there and its the best thing ever

Got to respect this mans love for the outdoors… “my greatest achievement is creating a living bush” the man has a wife and kids 😂😂 never change bro LG Connar

Congratulations! I'm happy for you, good luck.👍

Nice to see that this woodland is In good hands 🌱

Mike, have enjoyed watching your ongoing woodland preservation ownership and stewardship. Most of this is not available to me in the States, but have been a member of Nature Conservancy since 1989. Their efforts parallel yours but on a larger scale. Yours is a far more human scale and more relatable. Thanks for your ongoing series. Be well and ongoing best wishes to you and yours.

An old man from New Mexico USA who has been watching for a couple of years & always enjoyed the content. in the mid 1960s I was stationed at Menwith hills station near Harrogate Yorkshire. keep up the great work.

I love your natural boundary you have created

Seeing you get really enthused and attached to particular trees and then their contribution to the things that eat them once they fall is amazing. Thanks for all the stuff you put out into the universe 🙏

Treating nature with respect is what it's all about. Here we see that action in practice. If only the rest of the world shared your passion our climate cgcle would be extremely different. Jope I'm alive to see a vlog on your patch in 10 years time Bushyboy Oz

A great journey of understanding your new place, wildlife cameras are so revealing.

I feel so privileged to witness you and your Dad's exploits o er the years. I love how you respect life around your new property! That's the ultimate joy of bushcraft.

My favorite so far was restoring the boundaries.

Great video bud really enjoy them keep'em coming. Wishing you and yours the best. Stay safe and be well brother. 👊😎🤙🍻🇺🇸

Bushcraft gives a respect for our natural world and that shows here. Excellent attitude and philosophy.

What a very handsome dog!

what i like is this dude allows comments means to me honesty

Humble, personal and passionate ... Thank you for sharing

Don’t regret anything. You are creating a harmonious atmosphere for yourself and a natural park. Bravo

I'm new to this channel (although have been a fan of the TA Fishing channel for many years) - your humility, self-awareness and ability to share your insecurities are unusual and compelling the modern world of social media. It took me about 10 minutes in before I paused and did a search for local woodlands for sale (not much in Wiltshire - but I'll be patient!). Thanks for doing this.

Fantastic, Keep up the good work, Extremely jealous, Happy someone with your mindset is guardian of that woodland, Enjoy.🙏🏽

Many thanks for this. This is a dream and for growing my own food there and maybe even live for a while.

YES! Big congrats and excited to see the videos created here

26:04 I hope you have no regrets in the time you took. We are all here for a short amount of time. I think you'll have plenty of time to "take it in" 26:25 I don't mind the repetitive videos, a yearly update of the same content as last year is a nice log to track what you've done, even if it is the same.

Your sense of "stewadship" is inspirational. It tells everyone that you have taken responsibility for real piece of nature, and that's a lesson we should all take to heart. Well done!

“Being a steward of the land…” I could not love this more. Thank you for being exactly you! 😊

Thank you for the continued inspiration. Amazing to follow.

Gosh, to light a little fire in your own wood seems fundamentally wonderful.

I am excited to see the woodlands three years out.

You're awesome man! Randomly found you awhile ago and loved all the content since. Love how you've grown as a creator and outdoorsman, and that you still want to grow with filmmaking. Excited to see what comes!

Thank u for caring for nature

Thanks for the video and it is nice to see how you are enjoying the woodland and giving information about it.

Sorry bout my essay below. Just wanted to add how lovely it was to see you and your father to make memories and share building projects together. I wouldn't worry a jot about having created the oven - in the grand scheme of things, it's not a permanent structure, and iit will do no harm - and I'm sure it will make family nights out a lot more fun.

Looks amazing mate! Just a note about standing deadwood (from my ecologist point of view), it’s an amazing resource for a lot of wildlife, particularly bats if it has some nice gnarly holes in it. When dropping the deadwood, it would be really great if you could leave a couple of metres standing if it isn’t too dangerous, to provide another resource which is has actually become quite scare in the uk. Alternatively, I think some ecologists have been looking into cutting holes into trees that are still alive, similar to how woodpeckers create holes, to provide roosting opportunities for bats! Could be something to look into! Also great to hear about you leaving wood on the woodland floor for biodiversity. If you get some nice big log sections decaying it hopefully you’ll get some stag beetles which are really cool! Third thing with logs, if you have areas of you woodland that border scrub or more open land, or in the vicinity of ponds, leaving stacks of small logs to provide “hibernaculum” for reptiles and amphibians is another great way to help provide habitat!

It's my dream to own woodland so I really enjoyed this video. Looking forward to watching more.

Beautiful and amazing journey, thanks for the ride along!

This woodland series has been educational and right up my strasse Mike. Love what your doing bud and thank you

Great to see the progress 😊 congrats on everything you've achieved so far Mike! It's been great to watch you put such care and love into everything you do and the videos you make.

How wonderful to see your woodlands TA .The cutting ivy is a difficult one … my partner cut a few ivies from 2 oaks … strangely they are dying 😮so I’m “ don’t cut the ivies 😅” Come and see how our woodlands are after 17 years at @“ The wildman woods “ Looking forward to seeing you discover your beautiful woods

Awesome new video Thanks Mike!!

So lovely hearing your enthusiasm have followed you and your dad's channel from the beginning Luv from 🇬🇧

Sheep are such a threat to the growth of woodlands, I don't think most people realise what a nuisance they are! Great to see the traditional hedge laying. Looks brutal but works a treat!

Thanks and greetings from czech 🙂 good mind culture you have 🙂 stay safe and strong 🙂

Well said I'm all for your path forward

For me this is your best honest and true video you have ever done. 😀🙂

So nice that you are so considerate to the woodland and your suroundings - Really lovely to hear and see 💚✌🌿

What a beautiful piece of land and video.

The Ash tree is a story that has limited choices. So doing a right thing still feels off because this beautiful tree has already been blown over. Love your channel and content. Keep up the amazing work

Thank you. I have expressed the same sentiment about how I manage my land. I am starting with the full understanding that someone else will be able to enjoy the benefits. Well done my friend.

This is great and have to add your dog looks so happy to roam about. :)

Ive been so busy with work I haven't had time to follow your journey properly. Really glad you did the video, keep up the great work inspiring us all 🎉👍