In 2019 an autistic person purchased 3.5 acres of woodland in North Devon. About a third of the wood is classified as ancient woodland and contains Oak trees, Holly and Hazel. Some oak trees are several hundred years old. The wood is a rare habitat known as Temperate Rainforest and is classified as a part of the European Temperate Rainforest (see the Ecology page for more details).  It was heavily infested with non native Rhododendron. The remainder of the wood contains mixed woodland. This part of the wood also contained large amounts of  Rhododendron. There is quite a bit of wet woodland within the wood, so this offered the opportunity to dig ponds and create new habitat for aquatic life.

The original idea was to get a few acres of woodland and restore it to ancient woodland and then leave it to the Woodland Trust. It was inspired by visiting a place called Chapel Wood where a landowner had restored a wood and the ruins of a chapel and then left it to the RSPB. This seemed like a great thing to do. An affordable wood was found and purchased using life savings and willed to the Woodland Trust so that it would eventually be protected in perpetuity. 

Working in the wood and being there proved very beneficial, so an idea formed of creating a wood just for Autistic people, to give them a place to find peace and quiet, to be in nature and to get away from people and the problems that we as Autistic people face in society. The project would now have dual aims - to create a place for Autistic people and to look after and protect the wood. 

In late 2020 Autistic volunteers started to join the project.  

In 2021 autistic people who met through Autscape started working to create a wood that is just for Autistic people. In April 2021 they began working on projects within the wood, clearing Rhododendron, removing the vines from the trees, digging ponds and making paths. People saw the ancient woodland overgrown with Rhododendron and felt that they had to remove it.Three people put in considerable effort to remove and burn large quantities of Rhododendron and the ancient woodland part of the wood was fully cleared of Rhododendron. 

People brought their own unique skills to the wood. Skills such as engineering, horticulture, research and fire making were invaluable. People who were less physically able still brought with them a wealth of useful knowledge which helped the project a lot.

In the summer of 2021 a regular picnic group was formed in the wood. People attended and brought food and shared experiences. We also created a pond in the shape of the Autism Infinity Symbol.

In late 2021 a brushwood fence was created along the boundaries of the wood. An edible hedge was planted and a living willow fence was built. The first Woodland Christmas Dinner took place on Christmas Day 2021. 

By the end of 2021 about 80% of the Rhododendron had been cleared. Allowing much of the wood to return to its natural state. 

Once a lot of the major work had been completed, the ethos of the wood shifted slightly from people volunteering at the wood to getting people to just visit the wood. People could still help out if they wanted, but now the most useful thing people could do was just to visit the wood. 

When autistic people visit the wood, this makes it a viable project. The additional interest in the wood serves two functions. Firstly to build a sufficient number of people to make it worthwhile to find a way for it to continue it as a wood for autistic people in perpetuity (as an entity in itself), rather than just be given to the Woodland Trust. Secondly it boosts the morale of people who have worked on the project if they can see people visiting and enjoying the wood. 

As with all by us and for us projects, it is down to us to make it work, to prove that we can do it and to show that we can create a place for ourselves. If we can do this then maybe other similar places will emerge elsewhere. Maybe in the future there will come a day where wherever people live, they will have a wood or similar outdoor project that they can go to find some peace and quiet and a space of their own.

A brief history of the wood

Oak forestry

The wood was previously a working woodland. The Oak trees on the side of the hill were planted to be masts for sailing ships. The woodsmen had a special technique that they used to get the oak trees to grow straight enough to dorm ships masts. They planted on the side of the hill and planted a holly tree right next to the oak tree on the inside of the hill. The oak tree had a hill on one side of it and a holly tree and the only option was to grow straight. In the ancient woodland area there are some good examples of this technique, with very straight oak trees that have holly trees right next to them (see picture below). Also they planted in a deep valley so that the trees would grow very tall. By the time the current oak trees reached maturity the age of sail was over and fortunately they decided to let them be, so they are still growing today. They are a fascinating piece of living history.

Charcoal burning

The Alder coppice trees in the wood were used for charcoal burning and there is a flat area on the hill that they dug out for this purpose. It is thought that the charcoal from this was used to make gunpowder.

Coppicing

Alder trees were planted and coppiced in the wetter areas of the wood. This enabled 3-5 trees to be grown from a single Alder stump. The Alder trees have hollow roots and so are well adapted for wetter areas.

Pottery

The soil in much of the wood is pure clay. If you dig just below the surface you find perfect modelling clay similar to the type you used at school. There were potteries in the area and North Devon was once renown for fine and artistic pottery. You can see examples of this at the Barnstaple Museum. It is very easy to create ponds in the wood as the clay means that they hold water without needing a liner, so you just find a wet area and dig and you've got a pond.