Birchen Coppice

Birchen Coppice is a compact patch of mixed broadleaf within the larger Wyre Forest. The canopy includes birch, oak and hornbeam, and areas are managed by coppicing so stems re-sprout from old stools. Narrow rides and short paths run through the coppice, exposing the pattern of multi‑stemmed bases and cut trunks left from earlier rotations. In spring the ground layer fills with wood anemone and bluebell, and later in the year grasses and fern take over as the coppice grows on.

The coppice structure, with its rings of regrowth around ancient stools, creates a mix of shaded and open niches used by invertebrates and nesting birds. Scattered hollows and shallow earth platforms record former charcoal and coppice work, and fallen timber supports fungi and saproxylic beetles. Management aims to keep a shifting mosaic of regrowth and ride edges, so the area changes noticeably through the seasons while retaining the visible traces of traditional woodland use.