Thirty Years in Wilderness Wood

Most of us talk a good game about living off the grid – Chris Yarrow and his wife Anne, actually did it. In 1980 they made the bold move of buying Wilderness Wood, using almost every penny of their money to do so, and then finding a way to make a living off the 60 some odd acres. Needless to say, this sounds more romantic than it actually was, as Yarrow and his wife soon discover as they have to mess about with planning permission and finding a successful way of putting food on the table and keeping themselves warm in the winter. Funny, sometimes alarming, but always fascinating, this is the true story of a couple who dared risk everything to realize their dream

My dream come true. Leaving everything and go living in the forest. That is what this book is about. A true and engaging story about how to live the way that really makes you happy, embracing nature and despite the inconvenients and difficulties. Funny and tender.

A interesting read that even had some very funny moments you wouldn't have expected. It's definitely not the norm. You like the characters who are telling the story and are a very interesting couple themselves. It was almost too short of a read and you kind of wanted a little bit more. So if you want to take a trip to the English forestry side of things, pick up a copy and enjoy the many shards of wisdom and pleasantry that may come your way.

A very interesting read! This is a memoir of a man and his family who were ahead of their time. They practiced “green initiatives” before the phrase was coined!

Lots of people have dreams about where they want to live, their perfect career but very rarely do these get realised or combined. Chris and Anne Yarrow are one of the few that have been able to do this when they purchased Wilderness Wood in Sussex. This 63-acre plot of woodland was to become a home, a source of income and a way of life.

This unassuming wood was to become their home after they managed to secure planning permission to build there, and the scrappy chestnut coppice that was there evolved to become an award-winning example of how to manage a small woodland. They built a barn which became a multiuse facility for schools and craft days, a tea room was constructed for that needed necessary refreshment after walking their dogs an in time became an integral part of the village.

There are some amusing anecdotes in the book, but Yarrow has written a practical and pragmatic guide to running a woodland in modern day Britain, on the trees to grow for the best income, where to use outside resource and where you need to add value to the end product to maximise income. There are chapters on the best way to grow Christmas trees, the 1987 storm, managing a woodland for income and wildlife and seeking the best way to get a work-life balance. If you have ever contemplated the possibilities that owning a woodland could offer this is a book full of advice on what to do, and more importantly what not to do.

Incredible journey of Anne and Chris Yarrow!!!! At the end of thirty years, they sold that piece of land, a running business, as monetarily average as it may have been given their exceptional hard work, but their life was spent together, memories (and possibly some errant enemies) made along the way. They created history and it surprised me that the new owners (The Morrish family) limit Yarrows legacy on their website - after all, Wilderness Wood HAS a history! There is a connection to the land and its people too.

Btw, where are the Yarrows living now? And what are they up to?

Thirty Years in Wilderness Wood
by Chris Yarrow


Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Biographies and memoirs, Outdoors and Nature

Its taken me a while to review this as its not a kindle ARC, but an Epub, and I have issues reading on a PC, but finally got through it.
Its a really interesting read, detailing a family's progress from first idea, searching for the right wood, purchasing and of course building a home and business from it.
I enjoyed reading about their day to day struggles, with not just Nature but Those (nominally) In Charge. The Officials who make the rules, but don't always realise the one size doesn't fit all, and things like soil type can vary within a few hundred yards, therefore growing some kinds of trees, while it may be in Local Plans, just won't work.

I think in the UK we can get OTT over planning, obsessional almost over control, and Chris and Anne find this again and again. They want what ostensibly the planners want, to return a woodland to a working woods, to look after, to protect, to encourage healthy trees, but sometimes – as I've found myself – officials are too ready to land Tree Protection Orders on trees that just don't need it. Rules and regulations get in the way of practicality and doing whats right for that woodland, not necessarily whats right on paper or proscribed in Local Plans.
I really felt for them when they came up against officials and locals determined not to listen to their plans, convinced they were out to ruin the land. Somehow though they work through, and I loved the successes and the descriptions of the working wood, and that gorgeous house.

It gave me lots to think about, opened my eyes to the many things that can be done with woodlands. I wish I'd been able to do something along these lines when younger.
I've always had a love of nature, enjoying growing things and seeing them mature, and trees of course can take a very long time to reach maturity, but there are ways of making money from younger trees while encouraging mature ones for future generations.
It's not just wood that's harvested, but leaf mulch, charcoal making, school trips and education, cafes and woodland walks, basket and hurdle making, so many things not just planks and logs from trees.
Of course we also get the benefit of plants and fungi that flourish in healthy woodland, the animals, birds and insects that depend on the trees in all states from young to rotten, and of course they way trees clean the air.
I love the keeping of old crafts, of the way woods were used in the past, I feel we do let so much old knowledge go in the quest for modernisation. The UK has a centuries long forestry heritage, and I'd like to play a part in keeping that.

Its not all fun and games though, trees take a lot of work, and though I've only four acres of land it seems there's always tree limbs need pruning, sapling thinned out to encourage strong growth and dead trees to be felled – only yesterday, 30th December, we had to remove two silver birches in danger of falling into the road. It natural progression that trees age and need to be managed, but its expensive if like me you can't do it yourself. Its been entertaining read of Chris and Anne's struggles and successes, and anyone interested in doing something along these lines will learn much for the book.

 Stars: five, a practical and entertaining read, with careful dollops of gentle humour to balance.
Arc supplied for review by Netgalley and Publishers

An informative book following a family as they attempt to live off grid in the Lewes countryside. This is a detailed account and whilst it would be a must read for anyone interested in following in these footsteps, or pursuing forestry at any level, it was also well written and entertaining for the purely escapist reader.

A great read,it tells of a couple wanting to live in woods,and how they do it,a must read.