Mulgrave Estate to discuss plans to plant over 300,000 trees

The award-winning Mulgrave Estate in the North York Moors is holding a public meeting to discuss Phase One of plans to plant 300,000 trees over 550 acres in a pioneering woodland project.

The Phase One planting area will cover the parishes of Glaisdale & Egton (Egton Grange).

Robert Childerhouse, Mulgrave’s estate manager, explained: “This is probably one of the largest private woodland creation projects in the North East and is something the estate is very passionate about, with woodland currently making up some 16 per cent of the estate’s 15,000 acre area.”

A public drop-in consultation for the plans has been arranged for Tuesday March 12, between 3.00pm and 7.00pm, at Egton Village Hall (YO21 1TX). A similar consultation meeting was held last summer.

Robert explained: “This consultation will enable us to share our revised plans with the local residents and obtain their views. It’s very important to us that the public are kept informed about what we are planning and what we are hoping to achieve with our new woodland.

“We received pretty good feedback from our previous public meeting, which was also held at Egton Village Hall, but we have revised our plans to take into account comments from local residents and statutory authorities.

“Our estate woodland is used for both commercial timber production as well as amenity and conservation. We have a very successful firewood business and we employ four foresters on the estate.

“It’s also important to note that the popular Mulgrave Woods at Sandsend are open on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year, except in May when the birds are nesting.”

Once the final consent has been given by the Forestry Commission, the first trees will be planted this winter.

The Mulgrave Estate is famous for its ancient trees and historic landscape. Apart from commercial timber production and firewood sales, the estate’s woodland programme focuses on the importance of creating and maintaining a thriving and diverse woodland habitat and an attractive environment.

The Mulgrave Estate has been the Marquis of Normanby’s family seat since the 18th century.