Planting a Family Legacy: Jim’s Woodland Story

When retired engineer Jim decided to transform a neglected field on his farm in Silkstone, he wasn’t just planting trees – he was engineering a living legacy.

With support from the South Yorkshire Woodland Partnership, Jim turned a degraded field into a future haven for wildlife, intentionally designed to increase tree diversity and withstand a changing climate and the potential for new emerging pests and diseases.

This project does more than just green up the landscape; it connects fragmented woodlands and scrub habitat, creating a vital nature corridor that will safeguard local wildlife and bring joy to future generations for decades to come.

How It All Began: From Vision to Woodland

In September 2024, retired engineer and local parish councillor Jim reached out to the South Yorkshire Woodland Partnership (SYWP) at the local agricultural show in Penistone. Jim is no stranger to greening up his land, having already planted plenty of trees and hedgerows over the years on his farm at Silkstone, Barnsley. However, he was keen to do even more to transform neglected areas of his landholding to create diverse woodland habitat, something that wildlife, his children and future generations could enjoy.

When considering the bigger picture of managing his landholding, Jim was initially keen to improve a 1.43ha field that had been heavily farmed by its previous owner, leaving behind rubbly, clay-based soil unsuitable for growing crops. Having been left ‘rested’ for a couple of years, nature was already trying to move back in. Along the edges of the field, self-seeded silver birch and ash saplings were creeping in from the woodland next door. This was a huge clue that with a bit of help, a new woodland could thrive here. Even better, planting trees would create a natural ‘buffer’, protecting the neighbouring secondary woodland and nearby ancient woodland.

Jim was keen to do the planting himself but just needed SYWP to handle the paperwork, design, and funding. To make sure the new woods would stand the test of time and comply with UK regulations (known as the UK Forestry Standard), SYWP teamed up with several experts, bringing in the Forestry Commission, Natural England, and South Yorkshire Archaeology Services for consultation and advice on historical and environmental compliance.

Key to the scheme was the choice of trees, with 1,100 trees and shrubs chosen from 17 different native species. Using a wealth of experience and data-driven techniques, including the Forestry Commission’s Ecological Site Classification (ESC) tool, the aim was to plant a variety of tree species in order to create a woodland with inherent climate resilience and the ability to withstand emerging pests and diseases.

The design of the woodland was also made with consideration for incorporating access links to the adjacent woodland, maintaining naturalistic edge planting, and with thought to keeping some areas more open with silvopasture ‘roundels’ to enable potential future grazing on this and the adjacent field.

SYWP managed to secure over £12,000 in funding through grants available with the Woodland Trust in collaboration with the Northern Forest partnership and the Government’s Nature for Climate Fund. This covered 100% of the costs for the trees, shrubs, fencing, and gates. Labour costs were also included, which meant Jim could pay for some help with planting and for the costs to install protective fencing and access gates. Jim got to work in February 2026 and after a few weeks of hard work, the planting was all wrapped up, with the funding fully claimed by the end of March 2026.

Because young trees can be vulnerable, the funding also included an extra £8,500 for ongoing maintenance. With half of the funding handed over once trees are planted, Jim had everything he needed to look after the site in the long term and pay for any ‘beat-up’ (replanting any saplings after the first year). It is expected that there will be some replanting needed, but fingers crossed these young trees are off to a good start!

Creating a living legacy: Jim’s perspective

“As a retired engineer, I’m used to looking at projects through the lens of long-term design and sustainability. What started as a struggling field will hopefully transform into a thriving native woodland, thanks to the incredible support and specialist guidance from South Yorkshire Woodland Partnership, and with funding from the Woodland Trust.

“Planting these 1,100 trees myself was hard work, but knowing this woodland will both protect our local ancient trees AND serve as a lasting legacy for my family and the Barnsley community, has made every bit of effort worth it”.

If you would like to explore tree planting opportunities on your land with SYWP and see how the latest Woodland Trust grant could support you, visit our website at South Yorkshire Woodland Partnership or get in touch with us at: woodlandenquiries@wildsheffield.com