Dreckly Woods CIC

08/06/2026

We did a bit of green woodwork with our own kids yesterday with an oak branch we had bought home from Dreckly Woods. Our youngest son (12) wanted to do some axe carving so started making a mini mallet before getting distracted with all of our different tools (supervised of course). He cut down weeds with a scythe, used loppers to trim our bay leaf tree and the axe to cut us a pile of kindling. Our daughter (14) spent time trying to perfect a knife she had whittled and was excited to find out it was sharp enough to cut leaves. And I made a mini mushroom, just to teach them some skills and safety rules. It was lovely that even though they are reaching that awkward teen/preteen age that they still wanted to spend time with us, learning new skills and taking a break from gaming and whatever teenage girls usually get up to.

With the summer holidays looming we are excited to be planning our Junior Forest Ranger certificated course. If you think your kids would enjoy learning new skills and spending time in our beautiful 1.6 acre broadleaf woodland then watch this space! Maybe they need a little bit of encouragement to do something other than spend the summer on the xbox? Maybe they want to make new friends and connect with nature in a fun and inclusive environment? We will be covering an introduction to den building, fire lighting, campfire cooking, green woodwork, arts and crafts and lots of games and free play/exploration, nature observations and wildlife/woodland conservation. Bookings are not open yet but lots going on behind the scenes to prepare. 🌳💚

02/06/2026

So apparently these probably weren't eggs on the back of the bumble bee as I previously thought. They are in fact 'helpful' mites that hitch a ride on the back of the queen to get to the next hive where they feed off wax and excrement. So the mites are basically bumble bee vacuum cleaners! Nature really is fascinating.🐝

How To Help Bumble Bees With Mites And When To Leave Them Alone https://share.google/Yx9f07SgE8HE9UAiX 🌳💚

02/06/2026

A short visit to the woods today as Helen hit herself in the head with a post driver. 🤕 She's ok but needs to rest so we came home early. We did meet a toad, heard roe deer calls and saw two mating bumble bees carrying eggs. It was quite nice in the drizzle (at least cooler than last week). We have finally set a wildlife camera up on a tree with a water source to coax wildlife in, so watch this space (if we've set it up correctly)😬! We managed to bash in 10 posts before Helen's injury. Shame we didn't manage to attach the cross battens as planned today but it is important to listen to our body and look after our physical health. Feel better soon Helen Sibley 🌳💚

28/05/2026

A day of post bashing today at Dreckly Woods CIC. Ringing ears and achy arms but feeling quite accomplished. Definitely a lesson on why wearing shorts in a woodland is not a good idea even if it's hot! Guess who the clumsy one is?!🙈 Most of my injuries occurred whilst de-honeysuckling the oak and willow trees at the entrance and clearing the space for our fire circle. We took cuttings off some willow branches and planted them in the greenhouse back at home to hopefully replant back at the woods in the future. Willow is great for crafting and green woodwork and looking forward to doing some weaving too. Happy woodland days.🌳💚

25/05/2026

So what was my inspiration for the vision of Dreckly Woods CIC?

Rewind 10 years and we were a family in crisis. I was a single mum of 4 severely traumatized children including one with severe mental health problems, whilst suffering with severe complex PTSD myself. I was exhausted in every single way, holding together a family when all the services around us failed us deeply. It is a completely different kind of exhaustion. I had a child who didn't fit into the standard box of mainstream education but there was no where that was right for him. I read an article back then about the forest school ethos and a school further away than we were able to travel which let children be who they needed to be, where the educational box fitted them and not the other way around. Where uniforms that didn't fit sensory needs didn't exist and he could learn at his own speed in an environment which encouraged, not judged. Where each child was seen for their strengths and their differences celebrated. I got to the stage where I genuinely couldn't cope anymore but there was no option but to continue fighting services and continuing to try and fit my son into a box that I knew was totally wrong for him. I know that pressure so well, how sometimes the only thing that keeps you going is the love for your child and the anger that the world doesn't understand them.

So my experience comes from first hand life experience and my dreams came from what we really needed back then, when it didn't actually exist for us. Now our life is at a stage where we can put our energy into creating what we so desperately needed, we are going to make it exist for other children and parents that may be going through similar. We dream of a place where parents know their child will be safe and understood.

Our dreams for our term time forest school will provide the structure for children to learn and belong in a community that celebrates them and helps them to thrive. Our seasonal glamping site will create an environment which nurtures that family bond that enables us to keep fighting, as well as creating a space for parents to be able to just breathe knowing their children are occupied and safe. To be outside, get muddy and connect with nature in a way that is both grounding and healing.

I didn't learn this stuff from a textbook (although I have read plenty of those too), I learnt it from living it.🌳💚

21/05/2026

21/05/2026

Back at Dreckly Woods CIC today in the sunshine. 🌞😎 What a beautiful day! We did a lot of clearing of rhododendron and holly, adding them to our dead hedge. We accidentally bent our anvil loppers cutting some very intrusive holly patches. Helen Sibley got to use the chainsaw today, cutting some fallen trees into more manageable sized logs. We continued with clearing our compost toilet and tool shed area, measuring up to see how big we can make them. We plan to have low level accessible compost toilets so need to have plenty of space. More bug spotting....a tiny lime green spider (which Google lens tells me is actually an alien 👽). We really need to get a field microscope to look at these tiny creatures more closely.🔍🔬 Eli took his stick munching job very seriously as always and enjoyed playing in rainwater that had collected on our tarp to keep him cool. We returned home to a welcome parcel from woodlands.co.uk (including a new lead for Eli). Happy, sweaty woodland days! Back to making our rockers tomorrow for The Dreckly Wonky Workshop 🌳💚

21/05/2026

Someone is excited to be going to HIS woods today!🐶🌳💚

18/05/2026

So what to do on such a drizzly day? Well we have been thinking about all the yummy food we will be able to cook on our campfire! Food hygiene and safety is equally, if not more important due to the environment we will be working in, so Helen and I have just completed our level 2 qualifications in food hygiene and safety for catering. Bring on the BBQs!🍖🌽🌯🌭🍔🍗😋 🌳💚

15/05/2026

Eli busy chasing sticks and living his best life! 🐶🌳💚