Penderleath Community Woodland

08/09/2026

Penderleath Community Woodland was delighted to see Elise Langley of one of our sister sites - St Ives Community Orchard & Nature Reserve - win the Ron Tulley Award for Community Leadership, one of St Ives Town Council’s Star Awards last Friday.
The late Ron Tulley, a former St Ives Town Councillor, Mayor and community champion, was the owner of Penderleath Community Woodland. He sadly passed away earlier this year but very generously gave the site over to planting trees and to eventually become a nature reserve.
Well done Elise!

05/09/2026

Penderleath Community Woodland hosted a Scything course this week with Tom Waters of Scythe Kernow.
The morning was spent sheltering from the rain while Tom explained about the benefits of scything to the sward, the soil and biodiversity, creating wild flower meadows and more.
The group then learned how to fit the handles to suit each person and fit the blade at the correct hafting angle. It was then time to put it into practice.
The group of 6 scythed their way through loads of bracken and bramble cutting in the round field and the long field with a break for pasties and cake.
Later the group learned about peening (Dan demonstrating) which has to be done after some hours of scything to keep the blade functional. This is not the same as honing, which you do every 5 minutes or so. As well as the technique.
Of great interest was all the history Tom brought in and how scything has crept into our language - looking at a field laid flat after scything is looking at the “aftermath“.
The weather dried up in the afternoon and there was even some sun.
A big thank you to everyone for coming. If you know anyone else who might want to learn to scythe please tell them to get in touch as we are hoping to bring Tom back to do another course in spring.
Anyone for Scythe Fest next year!?

29/06/2026

Every Friday 10-12 at Penderleath Community Woodland a small group of volunteers meet to do a bit of tree and meadow care. Last Friday was perfect weather - warm and breezy with some of the most beautiful clouds I have seen. Or maybe its just laying back in the meadow and looking up on such a day that made them seem so?
It’s a while since the fields were grazed. Our aim is to grow a perimeter of native trees around each field and keep wild flower meadows in the centres. The purpose is nature recovery. It may have been several thousands of years since there was tree cover here and our saplings are very slow to grow, but they are growing. I notice the Alder are doing well just now.- at least I think that’s what they are. I need to put more effort into tree ID. “The thorn is the mother of the oak” apparently and certainly our trees (including the oaks) grow best where they are protected from deer by thorny areas but that also makes it very hard to reach invasive Himalayan Balsam. It’s a constant battle in the larger, lower field at this time of year, but thankfully the HB is easy to pull up once you get to it. It’s just coming into flower and can spread thousands of seeds when the seed pods spring open.
Brambles and bracken would fill the meadow areas if we let it. Maybe not a problem but we are surrounded by bracken and bramble in Penwith and we dont have any ponies to keep areas open for flowers that like grassy areas. We have scythes. Rupert has been keeping them sharp and they are an effective, if labour intensive, way to keep the meadows open for flowers and butterflies.

17/06/2026

At Penderleath Community Woodland we are currently combatting Himalayan Balsam which has spread to the site from neighbouring land.
We welcome anyone who can spare some time on Friday mornings from 10am to help us, meeting at Giew Mine car park, Cripplesease.

06/06/2026

Two Roe deer were running through some of the fields at Penderleath yesterday as we arrived to work on the site. They climbed over the wall into Penderleath Community Woodland but made a hasty exit when they noticed us. Lovely to see but we hope they haven’t been nibbling the young leaves or tree bark.
We are currently combating Himalayan Balsam and scything bracken if anyone would like to join us on Friday mornings meeting at Giew Mine car park at 10am 🌳🦌🌸

01/06/2026

27/03/2026

Oak Apples - they sound appetising but are actually larval nurseries housing pupating wasps! Several young oaks at Penderleath have them.
Read more about them here:
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/galls/oak-apple-gall-wasp

07/03/2026

There was a large attendance this afternoon for the planting of a tree to remember the late Ron Tulley who generously gave the land he owned at Penderleath to become a community woodland and public amenity.
An oak tree grown from an acorn from Unity Woods near Chacewater was planted looking out over the north Cornwall coast.
Ron would have been touched by the lovely tributes and the amount of people who came to pay tribute to this remarkable community champion.

28/02/2026

This Saturday 7th March a tree will be planted at Penderleath Community Woodland in memory of Ron Tulley who generously gifted the land at Penderleath to become an open public amenity.
Everyone is invited to meet at Giew Mine car park, Cripplesease at 2pm, please wear suitable footwear.
Ron was a former St Ives Town Councillor and Mayor, he was also instrumental in setting up and helping to run many groups and organisations benefitting the local community.
There will be no volunteer session on Friday 6th March.

14/02/2026

The volunteers at Penderleath Community Woodland did a clear up of Giew Mine car park and the nearby road verges last Friday before making their way across to the site to plant trees and carry out essential maintenance on the emerging woodland and meadows.
We welcome anyone who would like to join us on Friday mornings at 10am meeting at Giew Mine car park.
The tyres are still in the car park if anyone wants them for planting rhubarb or potatoes!