Interview: Sandi's Great British Woodland Restoration
Category: Press PackHenry David Thoreau wrote: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately… I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” Sandi Toksvig appears to feel the same way – although her approach to sucking the marrow of woodland life appears to be less about philosophical growth than messing about with chainsaws and building ponds. And the results are little short of miraculous.
Sandi has harboured a lifelong dream to restore and protect her own patch of woodland, and her inspirational new three-part series, Sandi’s Great British Woodland Restoration, sees her do just that. Unafraid to put her money where her mouth is, she has bought a patch of neglected woodland and set about restoring, managing and conserving it for future generations.
The series follows Sandi across the seasons as she faces the seemingly insurmountable challenge of going from forestry novices to custodians of their own woodland ecosystem. With the help of a series of charismatic and dedicated experts, a few impulsively acquired tools, and a whole lot of elbow grease, she yields triumphant results.
Woodland restoration, though, is not for the faint-hearted. Behind every tree lurks a setback, each branch hiding a new reason to despair. From fly-tippers to dirt-bike-riders, falling trees to mounting invoices, the road to arboreal paradise is littered with potential landmines.
But, with the irrepressible Sandi at the helm, how could this series be anything other than joyous? Whether she’s handling newts, surveying bats, releasing baby owls or recruiting helpers at the parish council meeting, she has a twinkle in her eye, a spring in her step and a quip at the ready. She is also unafraid to get her hands dirty – which is just as well when you’re spending the best part of a year messing about in the woods.
Here, Sandi discusses her woodland venture, what it’s taught her, and the role it played in her recovery from serious illness.
Where does your love of woodland come from?
Much of my childhood was spent in Scandinavia were having an outdoor life is part of the norm. Forests were always a big part of that. Woods cover 70% of Sweden’s land area. It is the most forested country in Europe and I had a huge appreciation of these spaces from my father.
How long had you nursed a dream of buying and restoring a patch of woods?
My father’s cousin was the head of the Forestry Authority in Denmark and I remember wonderful walks with him. My father was very famous but in the woods it was quiet and I had him to myself. He carved wood as a hobby and I used to dream of owning my own trees with which to make wonderful things.
How did you decide which area of woodland to buy?
We spent three years looking all over the south of England for a house which had woodland, some kind of water, no streetlights, not under a flight path and so on. We had begun to think the list was hopeless but when at last we came to the property we took one look and said simply, ‘This is it.’
Just as the project was due to start, you became very ill. What happened?
I was touring in Australia in the winter of 2022 when I found I was on stage in Sydney not able to breath, which is not ideal. I went to see a doctor to see if I could fly on to the next part of the tour in New Zealand. ‘Not only can you not fly,’ declared the doctor, ‘you need to go to A and E immediately.’ I was admitted to hospital [with bronchial pneumonia] and was very unwell for quite some time.
It’s amazing, watching you regain your strength, regenerating along with the woods. Do you feel that being out there was instrumental in your recovery?
There is no question that the woods acted as a nurse to my improvement. When I first returned to the UK I could hardly walk and needed two sticks to get about. I went out into the woods every day. First just for five minutes but gradually for longer and longer until one day I found I couldn’t remember where my sticks were and I was using a chainsaw.
The woodland needed an awful lot of work. Did you ever feel hopelessly out of your depth?
The first time I went into the woods I found I was so overawed that I was whispering. It seemed so vast and unknown that I felt certain I was not up to it. I did not know one single tree from another. Today I cannot go past any patch of trees without immediately analysing what work needs doing and when.
You recruited a range of rather wonderful characters to help you out. Tell us a bit about them…
One of the great rewards of the work in the woodland has been the amazing people we have met. I wanted to make sure that we spread a message of just how many women are doing this work. I did some research and discovered Frankie Woodgate who is an astonishing woods person and now a wonderful friend. Time in her company is glorious.
You also had the help of two extremely flatulent horses. What was their role?
When you cut down trees you need to extract the timber in order to be able to make it into logs or whatever, so that it doesn’t get wasted. Frankie uses horses to pull the logs out so that no machinery damages the subsoil in the woods. The horses are magnificent and so clever. In their defence I only heard them expel wind that one day.
You set yourself a budget of £30,000 to transform the wood. Were you able to balance the books?
We have spent far more than that. It is not a cheap undertaking.
What are the practical skills you have learned during this process?
I can distinguish many types of trees, work a chainsaw, a log splitter, a wood chipper and own a small tractor. I think the main skill is being able to ‘read’ a woodland and see what needs doing.
And what are the deeper things you have learned?
That I have spent too much of my life just living in my head and not my body. We meet every Sunday with a local gang from the village (The Branch Managers) to work in the woods, and the physical exhaustion from that is so good for us all. I am learning to sweat the small stuff less and think about creating a space not for us but for the next generation and the one after that.
What were the high and low points?
One of the highs was having a candlelit dinner in the woods with our local gang of volunteers. We made an area we call ‘The Nest’ and had a barbeque cooked over our own wood. Heaven. Also releasing three baby tawny owls from The Wildlife Hospital in Leatherhead. Building our own wood store. Too many great things to mention. Lows? Having to go back to work to pay for it all.
Were you prepared for the emotional impact the project would have on you?
I didn’t know I would become so devoted to a patch of and. We started with 15 acres and have now taken on another 25 next door.
How big a long-term commitment is this for you? Presumably it’s the arboreal equivalent of the Forth Rail Bridge?
It is a massive commitment, but so far we are in for the long haul. We have made wonderful friends for life.
How often do you get out to your woods now? Do you have any plans for it for the future?
Pretty much every Sunday to do work and two or three times a week just for pleasure. We have many plans including opening up a new ride in the spring to begin extracting timber from the next 25 acres. Then we need to build a new woodstore, create a platform for disabled and elderly access, storytelling with the local school, forest school with the Scouts and on and on…
Sandi's Great British Woodland Restoration begins tonight on Channel 4 at 8pm, and will be available on Channel4.com there after.
