Managed Woodland

About 60 acres of the wood was planted between 1979 and 1981.  There are different combinations of oak, cherry,  birch, larch, Sitka, sycamore and ash, which are about 20 foot high.  There is also 5 acres of open croft land and 9 acres of 59 year old Norway Spruce with some larch. There is a 3 acre 20 year old beech wood.

There is a network of very good tracks throughout the wood, so all areas are accessible. On the east side of the wood, there is a gorge where a burn used to run before it was dried out by Forestry Commission planting further up the hill. The gorge contains a good variety of mature native species such as willow, hazel, rowan and birch. Please take care when in the proximity of the gorge - the sides are very steep in places.

The planting continues further up the hill, with Scots pine, birch, birch and larch, which is also easily accessible. There are two old  croft houses on the Hill of Edderton and a number of ruined crofts. One of the crofts is a listed building, constructed using cruck frames. There is a chambered cairn in forestry Commission land adjacent to the mobile home.

The woodland is managed on a very low impact system, involving a chain saw and an 8ft by 4ft trailer. Currently the cherry which was planted to nurse the oak is being thinned and sold for firewood. Other areas of planting have had a first thinning to encourage the growth of good quality, straight trees. The oak is the furthest north facing oak wood in Europe.

Any visitor interested in helping with forestry work is welcome if work is being carried out eg extracting timber by hand, loading timber and collecting native seed.