As some of you will have seen on our facebook page, we have recently placed a new carved tractor and “Parsons Wood” sign at Blaen Bran.

The original items were damaged last year in an act of mindless vandalism, and have been sorely missed by children, adults and dogs too.

When we sought to replace them, Cwmbran Community Council offered to help and we are grateful to them for the funds which have resulted in a new tractor and trailer which have been placed at the entrance to the Parsons Wood area of Blaen Bran, near to our log circle

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The sign into this area has also been replaced with a beautiful leaf design. The new structures were commissioned from Rhys Harris, of Bargoed.

Thanks to all who supported our very successful fundraising evening at the Bush on Monday 29th Feb.

The Quiz evening was a joint effort between Blaen Bran Community Woodland and the Friends of the Earth

As ever we are grateful to David Lucy and Corinne, who devised questions which baffled many and entertained all.

Thanks to Chris and staff at the Bush for their support on the night and also to those who generously donated raffle prizes.

A big thank you to the volunteers who helped to plant over 300 saplings along our upper boundary fence on Sunday 28th Feb.

It was a great turnout and a sterling effort as the ground was very tough and the hawthorn and blackthorn pretty spikey!

Hopefully the hedgerow will improve our boundary and provide a habitat for birds, mammals and insects alike, for years to come. It should also help to keep sheep and lambs out of the woodland and our dogs inside.

We have more young trees to plant in the coming weeks and will keep you posted on here – so keep checking the website for information

A very big thank you to Cwmbran Community Council who very kindly provided funds for the purchase of these young trees.

We have a lot of trees to plant and would appreciate lots of volunteers to come up and help to do it… All ages, family groups and pets are welcome – we’ll find a job for most people – and if your pet’s a good digger we’ll get them doing some too 🙂 !

These trees and hedges will last for decades, so isn’t it be a nice thought that when you are walking in the woodland years from now, that you and your family could have the satisfaction that you planted an area of it!

The event is being arranged for Sunday 28th February. For more details look at this calendar post.

Thanks in advance!!

Blaen Bran Community Woodland and the Friends of the Earth are holding a social evening on Monday 29th February 2016 at 7.30pm at the Bush Inn, Upper Cwmbran. It’s in our events calendar here.

There will be a mix of different quizzes and games (general knowledge quiz, music quiz, hoy bingo, dingbats, anagrams, and some other stuff we will come up with 🙂 ) which will be 50p/person a go. There is a ticket price of £5 to attend (which has not been affected by inflation since Oct 2014!!) which covers a roll and chips plus a free game (plus undefinable atmosphere, of course!)

Tickets will be available at the Bush Inn later this week (or contact us to reserve some) – encourage your friends to come along and support these worthy causes!

Great day up at the log circle area a couple of weeks ago.

We were joined by Sasha from “Wild Spirit” (web link here), who helped us create a wood henge structure which is the base, above which we suspended a parachute canopy giving us an event shelter. The structure is planned to be permanent with the canopy being put up only when required and is located by the log circle, forest school and ‘office’ portacabin – all part of the woodland dedicated to host and coordinate events.

It is hoped that we will make regular use of this excellent facility for such things as outdoor school activities, social events, gatherings etc. Let us know by contacting us here if you have any questions about the facility or are interested in using it. Do be aware, any events held there will need to be supervised by a trained woodland representative for insurance purposes so events will need to be pre-arranged.

The project has been funded by grant support and advice from Rhianon Trimm of “Space Saviours” (web link here) – an organisation aiming to make the most of the open spaces within our communities. See their website .

A special thank you to all those who worked so very hard to complete the job in one day.

(only a few were able to stay for the photo at the end – there were others who worked equally hard but left before the pic)

Of course we extend our sincere thanks to Sasha and Rhianon

We will be holding a walk around the woodland in mid-March which will let you find out some information about the the history of the woodland.

Around the Mynedd Maen mountain area which our woodland is on, there has been evidence of settlements back to the Iron Age. Caerleon was close too which was a major Roman fort, and evidence has been found that the Romans were mining coal – and the farming of animals to provide food for the fort was here too.

You don’t realise the history on your doorstep sometimes, so come along and find out!

When the date is confirmed it will be put in the events calendar.

Congrats and well done to our volunteers who successfully completed their training this week on the chipper machine. Brash – we’re coming to get you!

If you would like a 2016 Blaen Bran calendar with some lovely photos there are still some left. Obviously we dont really want to bin them and would appreciate some advertising locally, so if you are interested in having one let us know here.
A donation of your choosing towards the woodland would be appreciated, but is not necessary if you can collect it from Cwmbran. All proceeds will go towards projects in our much loved woodland.