Buying a wood was the ultimate dream for Mike and Tracy Pepler. Environmentalists and Christians, they wished to help to improve the Earth.

Mr Pepler inherited some money from his grandmother and last May they spent £39,000 on eight acres of ancient woodland near Rye, East Sussex.Friends were curious as to why a couple in their thirties who rented their home chose to buy a wood.

Mrs Pepler said: “It just made sense to us. Mike works for a renewable energy charity and woods are a renewable source of energy. It was putting money where your mouth is and we felt investment in a wood was better than money in the bank these days.”

Besides the financial gains (the site’s value has risen to around £45,000 and they are selling some of the timber) they also love being close to nature. They share their property with rabbits, badgers, adders, boar, pheasant, squirrels and woodland birds, and are learning to differentiate a boar print from a deer’s and to recognise wild flowers.

They have learnt how to use a chain saw and how to manage the wood. They have coppiced three quarters of an acre and are now selling the wood. The couple have bought a foot-powered lathe and are learning how to make spoons. Mrs Pepler, a part-time primary school teacher, has learnt how to weave baskets and is helping to run courses for new woodland owners.

Mr Pepler said: “Woods are an investment to enjoy. They are fun. We camped out in the wood last summer and invited friends to barbecues.

“A wood is not an unsafe place to put money. I know people who are trying to pull cash out of pensions to buy their own woodland.”

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