Tales from the Wild Wood - Season 1

Writer and woodsman Rob Penn takes on a year-long project to bring part of an abandoned woodland, Strawberry Cottage Wood, back to life.

Rob starts work, introducing pigs to clear bracken and brambles and planning his tasks for the year. Felling a dead tree on his first day almost throws the whole project into jeopardy.

Winter arrives in Rob Penn's wood. In freezing weather he learns the ancient practice of coppicing and brings in the local woodland group to clear overgrown hazel trees. With tonnes of timber piling up he goes off in search of a new organic super-fuel. Could our woodlands be the solution to our future energy needs?

In the middle of winter, Rob Penn needs to make some money. He visits one of Britain's largest clear-felling conifer plantations, before making an ambitious attempt to fell one of the largest trees in Strawberry Cottage Wood. Tangled branches cause everything to go wrong. Can he extract the timber without destroying himself or the neighbouring trees?

Spring arrives in Strawberry Cottage Wood. New life emerges and Rob Penn can shape the future of his forest. A visit to a secret woodland gives him a glimpse of how tomorrow's trees might look, whilst his own planting scheme catches the eye of the local squirrel population. He must do battle with these animals or facing losing all his saplings.

As summer arrives, the pressure is on Rob Penn to turn labour into profit in Strawberry Cottage Wood. He dips his toes into the beanpole industry before learning how to make charcoal. With his costs spiralling, he needs to find a market for his product and convince people that UK charcoal can compete with products imported from abroad.

Rob Penn's year in Strawberry Cottage Wood is nearly at an end. After ten months hard work he gets a final assessment from the local conservation expert. He attends an international cricket match to hunt down the timber he felled in the winter, and throws a party for everybody who has helped him throughout the year.