The Big Blue

Cawdor

What’s the story?

The ancient oakwood in Cawdor Estate, not far from the town of Nairn, is one of the finest in northern Scotland. Forestry records here stretch back many centuries. Long valued for its timber, the ‘Big Wood’ at Cawdor is now also appreciated as a place for quiet recreation and a haven for plants.

What’s special about it ?

Cawdor has a mix of old sessile oakwoods and gorge woodland. The displays of bluebells in early summer add swathes of pastel colour to the woodland floor and there are some 224 other species of higher plants, including hart’s tongue fern and creeping lady’s tresses orchid.  But it is the less obvious, ‘lower’ plants that set Cawdor apart, Over 121 lichen species and many kinds of mosses and liverworts (‘bryophytes’) have been recorded here. This bryophyte blend makes Cawdor more like some old woods in Denmark than other Scottish oakwoods.

Redstarts breed here, and it’s worth watching the sky above the tree canopy to see buzzards soaring overhead at any season.

What’s was  up?

Spread of rhododendron, exotic broadleaves (such as beech) and conifers (such as Douglas fir) have threatened to shade-out native trees and ground flora. Grazing by roe deer has held back native tree regeneration in places.

What’s  been done?

Cawdor’s head forester, Steve Conolly, describes the Core work on the estate in the Core Conference Proceedings.

In a nutshell/acorn this has involved:

• Management planning
• Rhododendron clearance (10ha)?
• Exotic broadleaved clearance (12ha)
• Erecting several km of deer fence to exclude roe deer from around 20 hectares of pSCI
• Removal of exotic conifers from more than 30 ha
• Collection of local seed and planting of seedlings in tubs to extend the woodland
• Expanding public access through a footpath network

What’s next?

Core Connections