Feanedock Woodlands

There are not many woodlands where you may occasionally stumble upon a passing Poet Laureate reading their verse or a DJ performance under a forest canopy. Feanedock is such a place, being home in July to our annual Timber Festival, a celebration of the National Forest environment and all the people who live there. 

The Timber Festival embeds itself neatly into the site for the weekend and uses the surrounding woodland as its backdrop. The woodland itself was planted in different eras, the oldest being Feanedock Covert, planted in the late 19th century, possibly as a fox covert. A century later, tree planting was carried out as part of the Ashby Woulds regeneration in the 1990s, shortly before the National Forest added a third area of planting in 2009 to create the woodland it is today. The site is planted with mainly native broadleaved species. A small pond was created at the northern end and is surrounded by marshy grassland with a variety of flowers and emergent plants, such as reeds and rushes. 

There are clues to the industrial heritage of the area with steep embankments thought to be due to coal mining, and views over the neighbouring lake, previously a landfill site and before that, an open cast coal mine. From black to green, the landscape has undergone a dramatic transformation to the scenic views of today. 

A bridleway link has been created along the hedgerow edge of the site. Gorse Lane, the bridleway which separates Feanedock from the adjacent Boothorpe Wood, is part of the National Forest Way. 

• Dog walking 
• Great views 
• Home of the National Forest Timber Festival 
• Part of the National Forest Way 

• Local car parking available 
• Accessible by local bus services