We returned to work today after the Christmas and New Year break in gale force winds and torrential rain. Not surprisingly we had numerous calls from our clients to sort out trees that had fallen on to the highways across the county in the high winds. We diverted several teams to assist and get the fallen trees moved as quickly as possible. Despite the terrible conditions everyone worked tirelessly and made safe the trees that had been victims of the bad weather earlier in the day.
KCM are now Amenity Assured Contractors and BASIS certified. This process has involved meeting their standards required for pesticide application, including inspection of our pesticide store, risk assessment procedures, vehicles for transport of chemicals and equipment, and our spraying operations. Well done to everyone involved, it is very impressive to add another professional accreditation to add to our string!
KCM's tree planting season kicked off with a 6500 tree project for Dorset County Council at Stourpaine. The area was a landfill site and is being planted to create a community woodland, this will be coppiced to provide wood fuel in the future. The warm and dry Autumn has meant a delay to the start of our planting activity but we are now in full swing with deliveries of trees and hedge plants from our nursery weekly and a busy schedule of planting for the winter ahead. KCM are tubex stockists for the south west and currently our yard is stacked high with planting accessories. We still have capacity to undertake a few more planting projects this winter so please call us if you would like a quote.
A team of our chainsaw operatives and machine operators have been back at Lamberts Castle again this week, we have undertaken clearance works on this SSSI for the last 3 winters now and are very happy to be back working there in such a stunning location. Our 7.5t excavator with forestry grab and the crawler tractor with the winch have really worked hard to do an immaculate job for the National Trust, hopefully we will have the opportunity to return for many years to come.
KCM took it's access platform to Melplash Show, Stock Gaylard Oak Fair and Dorset County Show. We provided rides for the public in our 27m Cherry picker taking people up to see the sights from above in these three stunning locations across Dorset. We raised a total of £312.50 from the rides and this was split between the charities: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Dorset Wildlife Trust and Julia's House. A big thank you to everyone who has supported us at the shows.
Our tree surgeons have had their heads down working hard. Adam Coleman is pictured here on a rainy day in Sherborne. This picture was very kindly taken by Mr G Parsons and he has been very generous to allow us to use the photo. A large percentage of the tree work we undertake is for safety reasons, Land owners have a responsibility to ensure that the trees on their land do not cause harm should they fail.
Knighton Countryside Management is now proud to announce that we are framework contractors for Dorset County Council for Arboriculture, Landscaping, Fencing, Weed Control and Replacement of rights of way footpath and bridleway bridges. We are very much looking forward to working more closely with DCC and on a wider range of operations that we do currently.
It's full steam ahead with our ecological works at the moment, we have been installing newt fencing of a variety of types across Southern England and South Wales, these include timber and plastic and Herpetosure. To date this year we have installed over 6000 mtrs of newt fencing and also pitfall traps and refugia for protected species mitigation projects as well as undertaking habitat enhancement works and creating hibernaculae. If you need newt fencing installed then please call us for a free quote on 01305 848881.
KCM has started a chemical weed control contract this week with the Forestry Commission to undertake chemical weed control operations across Dorset and the New Forest. We will be controlling rhododendron, birch and bracken on various plantation and conservation areas. With nearly 200ha of spraying for the Forestry Commission in Dorset and the New Forest as well as other contracts for local authorities and private clients across the South of England and South Wales our teams will be kept busy in the coming weeks.
We have nearly completed a contract to remove rhododendron from 50ha of woodlands on an estate in South Cornwall. The team has spent much of the winter working in sight of the sea. The estate is home to collection of species rhododendron, hydrangeas, bamboo and important trees as well as Victorian bridges, paths and other features. KCM used low impact methods of rhododendron removal and have successfully completed the initial removal. We shall be undertaking the follow up chemical control over the coming years to help restore this very significant woodland to its former glory .
Sam Stewart has been studying at Kingston Maurward College for a Forestry Apprenticeship while working for KCM since 2009. Sam has been awarded the Green Oasis Ventures Award for the best Forestry Apprenticeship which is a great achievement, and we are very pleased that he is staying on with KCM as a fully fledged member of the team. KCM has always promoted apprenticeships in Forestry and Arboriculture and worked closely with Kingston Maurward College. If you are interested in doing an apprenticeship in Forestry please contact us on 01305 848 881.
KCM's tracked mulcher and forestry flail are currently working flat out in the Purbeck Hills near Corfe Castle cutting mainly gorse on the very steep slopes there. We have 8ha to clear across 5 farms. This scrub management work is for the restoration of chalk downland within the Dorset AONB and is mainly funded by the SITA Trust via the Purbeck Keystone project. If you have a requirement for scrub clearance then please contact us.
A team of 8 experienced chainsaw operatives are working for the Forestry Commission on a Larch clearance project just outside Plymouth. The team have been working through all weathers to meet a tight deadline for this contract. This is part of a large scale initiative in the South West to eradicate P. ramorum from our woodlands, where so far 2000ha of infected Larch has been identified.
KCM is now the proud owner of a 26m 4x4 lorry mounted access platform. This is a versatile piece of equipment which we are using for our own tree surgery work but is also available for hire, fully operated, at any location. It's uses include access for maintenance on historic buildings, filming, roof and chimney access, bat and ecological surveys.
Please contact us if you are interested in hiring our platform on 01305 848 881.
Congratulations to our Foreman Will Crawford on the arrival of his little boy Thomas last week! We are delighted to see that he is destined to be a KCM team member already!
Knighton Countryside Management is undertaking the second phase of a hedgerow restoration project in the heart of the West Dorset AONB this winter. The project involves the coppicing and laying of existing derelict hedges and hedgerows that were grubbed out are now being reinstated. We are planting many thousands of new plants. These traditional forms of management and new planting see the ecological importance of these old hedges enhanced and ensure that these important landscape features are maintained for future generations.
Our planting season has begun! So far we have planted over 5000 trees and shrubs as part of a planting scheme near Blandford, Dorset. We have a busy winter ahead with planting work on the Weymouth Relief Road also well underway. We also have a large number of private clients booked in to plant trees for, but we always have capacity to squeeze in some more. Please contact us if you would like a quote to plant trees this winter. KCM are a stockist for Tubex tree protection products, and we also stock trees, native hedging, spiral guards and bamboo canes. Ring us now on 01305 848 881 for more information.
Knighton Countryside from West to East!
After working in South Wales last week installing timber and plastic newt fence and bucket traps we are on the road again and have KCM teams working on 4 sites in Kent this week. We are working on a diverse range of projects, installing newt fencing by hand on the roof of a covered reservoir that supplies the drinking water for Folkestone and installing tree protection fencing, site hoarding, chainlink fencing and Herpetosure at The University of Kent. As well as 400m of Herpetosure and 1400m of timber and plastic newt fencing with bucket traps and a number of hibernacula at an old prison site at Aldington and also 450 metres of timber and plastic newt fencing on a site near Sittingbourne. It seems that our clients are all pressing to get their ecological requirements completed before the end of the season, we still have some spare capacity, so if you want to get your ecological works underway then please don't hesitate to call us for a free site visit and quote, knowing that we can be on site to start your work within a very short timescale if necessary.
KCM was awarded approved contractor status last week for the Arboricultural Association, the company is extremely proud to have it's experience and knowledge recognised by such a prestigious organisation.
Last Thursday the company was assessed by representatives of the Arboricultural Association (AA), this involved in depth scrutiny of the organisation's internal systems and procedures, health and safety and the quality of the work it undertakes.
KCM is the only Arboricultural Association Approved Contractor in West Dorset.
Quote from Knighton Countryside Management's Managing Director James Shaw-Porter:
"We are very proud to have been awarded the approved contractor status, this recognises the high standards to which KCM works and is a great credit to our tree surgery teams
KCM sponsored "Conservation Row" at the Stock Gaylard Oak Fair at Kings Stag near Sturminster Newton on Saturday. The Oak Fair is a celebration of timber, woodcraft, the countryside, conservation and local produce. We displayed a wide range of our vehicles and machinery including the saw mill, boxer and stump grinder, tracked mulcher, forwarders and wood chippers. The day was a great success with numbers far exceeding those of previous years. KCM's demonstration of saw milling and stump grinding pulled in a large a crowd and the tractors and machines generated a lot of interest in the services we offer for tree surgery, woodland and plantation management, scrub clearance and fencing. Thank you to everyone who supported the stand, we are already planning for next year!
Opening of the Viking Longhouse at the Ancient Technology Centre at Cranborne
Today marked the grand opening of the Viking Longhouse, a 24 metre long bow-sided, chestnut shingle roof structure based on evidence from Danish royal garrisons. The Ancient Technology Centre forms part of Dorset County Council's Outdoor Education Service, the construction of the Longhouse was carried out by volunteers and school children using authentic materials and methods. Knighton Countryside Management provided and milled the larch boards which form the underside of the chestnut shingle roof. Visiting children and other groups will get hands-on experience of all aspects of Viking life, including preparing and cooking meals from local produce, staying overnight, sleeping on sheepskins around the central fire pit for the full Viking experience.
The newt fencing season is here and Herpetosure installation is in full swing, a team have been working at the Environment Agency Outfalls in Pevensey, East Sussex installing Herpetosure fencing. KCM installed 410 metres of Herpetosure reptile fencing using the Boxer. This work was carried out prior to the main works on the Pevensey Outfalls reconstruction project which will enable effective drainage of the Pevensey Levels through the coastal defences, and extend the life of the outfalls for another 30 years. So far this spring we have installed mitigation fencing as far east as Folkestone in Kent and at Avonmouth in the West. If you need help with newt and reptile fencing across Southern England and South Wales then please contact us for a free site visit and quote.
The Tree Surgery team have been dismantling a large Oak Tree over hanging power lines and a road at Crossways in Dorset. A power shut down was arranged and the road closed for a short time to allow our tree surgeons to safely dismantle the tree from a cherry picker. The team worked tirelessly throughout the day – Well done everyone!
We are working on through this very cold and snowy period. While our planting operations are temporarily on hold due to the frozen ground we are full steam ahead with Tree Surgery in Sherborne, Rhododendron clearance in Cornwall where over 4 inches of snow fell yesterday, hedge laying in Wales where conditions are really challenging, as well as woodland clearance works closer to home in Dorset.
Keep up the good work team!
Knighton Countryside Management is very proud to have won two contracts with the Forestry Commission for Rhododendron Clearance works Near Liskeard in Cornwall. The competition was tough with a considerable number of other contractors both large and small from across the country also tendering for the work. We are sending a team of qualified chainsaw operators from Dorset for 2-3 months to clear the Rhododendron from 50 hectares of woodland, starting on 11th January 2010.
Knighton Countryside Management is extremely experienced in this type of forestry operations, having completed a similar size project at Warmwell in Dorset funded by Natural England in December 2009.
Knighton Countryside Management employee Adam Coleman came to the rescue this week after a tree came crashing down on a car which was driving along the A30 just outside Milborne Port in Dorset. Tree Surgeon Adam Coleman was driving along the same road shortly after the accident and was luckily fully equipped with his chainsaw and PPE so was able to cut the tree away from the car and help to clear the road. The driver escaped unharmed although understandably shaken by the whole ordeal.
Knighton Countryside Management regularly undertakes Tree Safety Surveys and carries out roadside tree works so that accidents like this can be prevented. It is the responsibility of the Landowner to ensure that the trees on their property are safe and do not pose a risk to the general public on public roads and rights of way.
If you are concerned about any of your trees or require a tree safety survey please call us on 01305 848881 for a free site visit and quotation.
