am I allowed wood from the wood

ladygrey_2

am I allowed to collect wood in the wood along a public footpath to burn on the fire?

ladywood

Hope so - I do it all the time! I take a little rucksac with me when I take the dogs out and collect small branches and pieces of wood. The key is to get the old dry wood (well none is dry at the moment but you don't want new fall). My way of judging it is to see if it snaps easily (assuming it is small enough to break!) - if it breaks cleanly it is seasoned, if it tears and is hard to break it is still green and won't burn as well (it will spit). So go for stuff that has been lying a while.

I think unless it is private land you are fine - and even then if it is a footpath and the wood is natural windfall and not cut I doubt anyone will complain.

It saves a fortune - I used to buy bags of kindling and logs from the garage at about £8 a week - now all the wood is free!

Kimberley

As long as you don't chop the tree/branch down

sashacat

I collect wood from the beach nearby and as far as I know it is legal

FZwanab

My friend gets a chainsaw and cuts up trees that have already fallen to the ground. He asked the forest ranger and he said that was fine.

twink

we were allowed to take fallen trees as well and it certainly saved us money and we really enjoyed the exercise but some woodland owners here wouldnt even let the scouts take fallen branches to make up bags for the oaps at xmas

Lillibet_2

You are not allowed to do this from either National Trust or Englilsh Heritage land.....and they will take legal action/ban you from their land if they catch you!!!

ukbill69

If the owner of the land says you can then its up to him/her and as long as its not a protected tree like oak.

twink

we were only allowed to take softwood eg fir or spruce etc

make_life_easier

surely it doesn't do anyone any harm if your just picking up sticks/twigs and small logs. I always pick up a few when I have the opportunity, Just like to think it's a way of woodland management

brindles01

Dont know if its right or not but me and OH take the car out once/twice a week and load up the boot with old pieces of wood from copses along the roadside. We've been doing this all winter and had a roaring fire every night. OH reckons that if you pay for wood and burn it you might as well chuck fivers into the fire instead. Trouble is come next winter the way we are clearing up all the old wood, we wont have anywhere to 'womble' without a drive out a bit further (fortunately we do live in a semi-rural, nicely wooded area) but as we see it we are just clearing up the countryside.