Lime Kiln Wood (LKW), in Lindale Cumbria, is a 5 hectare (12 acre) piece of ancient semi-natural woodland, growing mainly on sloping limestone pavement. In the autumn of 2010 it came up for auction and I conceived the rather wild idea of buying it and trying to improve its conservation status. As a professional biologist, I was aware that British ancient woodland generally was in need of protection, but knew next to nothing about practical forestry or wildlife management.

The idea rapidly took root, and within a few weeks I had persuaded six friends and colleagues (soon joined by two more) to pledge enough money to make success at auction a realistic possibility. Several of the contributors were trained ecologists, while others had a strong interest in wildlife conservation. None of us knew much about forestry (although we were joined some years later by someone with a proper forestry background). Within weeks, we had nevertheless become the owners of LKW and had decided to set up a trust with several agreed objectives for its management.

The wood had been neglected for many years and looked decidedly dog-eared, with graffiti on tree trunks, deposits of rubbish, collapsed drystone boundary walls, a ruined limekiln, and unofficial BMX bike trails and jumps scattered around. It was nevertheless still buzzing with wildlife, although local people reported that the bluebells and other spring flowers were in retreat. The LKW Trust agreed 7 objectives, the most important of which was the promotion of biodiversity, but it was also thought essential to encourage local people to continue using the wood for non-damaging recreational activities.

To understand what we had taken on, we put a lot of effort into surveying the many plant and animal species present, and archived the information on our website (www.limekilnwood.org.uk). Over the years, we have recorded 56 species of ground flora, 23 tree species, 107 moth species, 5 bat species, and 36 bird species, but these are certainly under-estimates. Overall species richness was reasonably high, although exhaustive records of fungi, terrestrial mammals and invertebrates other than moths were not made.

It became obvious that the wood had once been extensively quarried and coppiced for limestone and charcoal to fuel the limekiln, but the understorey had become very overgrown and had shaded out a lot of the ground flora. This led us to re-introduce a hazel coppice rotation in several areas, and we also thinned out some mature sycamores to bring in more light. We installed considerable numbers of bird- and bat-boxes which were widely utilised, although they suffered serious damage by woodpeckers.

All this work involved a steep learning curve for us, but we were often helped by the nearby Barker’s woodyard when tackling the larger jobs. Small grants from the Forestry Commission and a charity (Butterfly Conservation) also supported these activities. In addition, we became reasonably proficient drystone wallers, and support from Friends of the Lake District enabled us to stabilise the limekiln and restore it to a semblance of its former glory. The Trust held many working parties to do all this, and volunteers among local people also helped from time to time. Encouraging feedback was often received from nearby residents, and the village primary school started using the wood to hold lessons about nature.

LKW will always be a work in progress, but there is no doubt that the wood is in better heart than we found it 15 years ago. The bluebells and other ground flora are coming back, and the wood feels more welcoming without being too tidy. Indeed, gales have resulted in considerable numbers of fallen trees, many of which have been left as wildlife habitat. Bramble has also become rampant in the de-shaded coppiced areas, although this is no bad thing as it acts as shelter for many species and prevents too much trampling by visitors.

For health reasons and re-location to other areas, many Trust members are no longer able to participate fully in working parties. The Trust is therefore passing on the baton to new owners and I hope they have as much fun looking after LKW as we did.