Mount Pleasant Farm and Forestry, Rockhampton. is a small business run by my wife and I. Our son and daughter in law now run Mount Pleasant Trees here which we started over 40 years ago.
In our semi retirement we now sell semi-mature trees up to 35 years old and also a good range some of what I consider to be among the best trees and shrubs, some of which are rare. Note that I regret that we cannot deliver anything.
We also sell Snowdrop bulbs and woodland and farm products as well as a few miscellaneous items. This season is likely to be the last we shall offer the fairly extensive list of trees, we plan to work less in future years.
If you would like a copy of my latest list please e mail me: glmpff@gmail.com.

Again as part of my wife and my plan to make life easier we are selling our woodland as detailed below.

Gorrashill Wood near Chepstow
We have owned this wood since 1993, we have managed it sensitively and derived great enjoyment from our custodianship of it. With advancing years I find the occasional work within the wood physically hard and I also want to spend more time with our family and at our farm nurturing the arboretum I have planted over the last 40 years. It is with a somewhat heavy heart we plan to sell but am sure a new owner will derive just as much enjoyment as us and perhaps have more time and energy to nurture the wood.
The woodland is two miles west of Chepstow and 10 mins from the M48 Severn Bridge. It is accessed across a field (owned by a neighbour ))adjoining a main road.
The wood is of ancient origin and extends to just under 19 acres. It is classified as (PAWS) Plantation on an Ancient Woodland Site.
The woodland would have originally comprised Small leaved Lime, Yew, Ash, Hybrid elm, Birch, Oak, Cherry, Whitebeam, Field Maple, Wild service Beech, Holly, Hazel, Spindle and other shrub species. All these species still exist in the wood.
Although the woodland was mostly cleared in the 1950s and replanted with a mix of Douglas Fir and Pine, all of the original species remain, some as large specimens and all are recovering well since a thinning of the commercial conifers about 25 years ago.
The soil is good loam and in most parts stays moist through most summers. Drainage because of the sloping ground is good.
Growth rate of the remaining dominant Douglas Firs has been good and there are some majestic specimens exceeding 100ft. More recently planted Coast redwoods ( only a score or so scattered through the wood) are also growing very well and in not too many years are likely to reach 100ft.
The wood was in the fairly distant past used to provide charcoal and several charcoal burning circles are still visible.
There is a rich ground flora with many ancient woodland indicators such as abundant bluebells, Herb paris and Daphne laureola.

Geologically the site is most interesting with different types of calcereous rocks as well as some sandstone. In parts there are low cliffs and there is a high rock promontory on which grow ancient Yew, Lime and Beech trees , the promontory provides attractive views.
There is a good network of tracks with an underlying base of stone throughout most of the wood, there are small quarried areas where stone for tracks has been extracted.
A good sized very attractive stream runs along part of the bottom boundary of the wood.
The wood is very private and is not used by dog walkers. There are no public footpaths through the body of the wood although a public footpath crosses a tiny corner of the wood ( this provides an alternative pedestrian access for the woodland owners.
Sporting and mineral rights are owned and included in the sale. The freehold is owned.
It is believed that the only fencing liability is to maintain a very simple stock proof fence between the wood and the adjacent wood owned by Natural Resources Wales.( NRW)
The commercial conifer crop of Douglas Fir and Corsican Pine has been recently professionally measured and is of the order of two thousand Tons. This has a very significant commercial value and as well as providing cash, the removal of this crop would result in more rapid reversion of the wood to approximately its original ancient state. General discussion with NRW have indicated that they would be keen to see removal of the Douglas fir and Pine.
There is the potential for harvesting a lot of Ash, mainly for firewood logs. In places there is a lot of hazel which could be coppiced.
These particulars have been prepared by me and are believed to be accurate and true, but potential buyers should check all the information for themselves and use the Tustins Forestry and Woodland Agents particulars as indicated below
Sale of Gorrashill Wood is being handled by the agent tustins.co.uk and they can provide full sales particulars and a brochure and give details of viewing arrangements.

Over 20 years ago we discovered the wonderful tree Carpinus betulus Rockhampton Red which has red leaves in the autumn and has resulted in very strong international interest amongst tree planters. You can read about the tree by clicking on that item on the left hand index bar.
This year we shall probably be introducing a new species of tree discovered here which also has red leaves in Autumn, absoloutely unique for that species.

We supply the products listed in the menu on the left hand side of this page. By clicking on the menu headings you will see (and can print) FULL details of the items availabe under that heading. But note that for a fully up to date please e mail me and I shall send latest list.

To get in touch. Please click the Contact Us link.on the menu on the left.
Please bear in mind that this is a part time business run during our semi-retirement.Please do not visit us without an appointment. Especially in times of covid
Our Son and Daughter in law run Mount Pleasant Trees on our land near to our business and home. Theirs is a much larger full time ( open from Oct to April by appointment only) business and they are able to supply a wide range of trees, hedging and shrubs in very large numbers in sizes from 12” to 8ft. as well as tree planting requisites. Their website is www.mountpleasanttrees.com
I wrote the following paragraph in Autumn 2021, then in 2022 we sufferered the worst drought I can remember (as bad as 1976) In 2023 we had an extrordinary dry spell from April until the start of July, with persistent strong winds and record high temperatures. Many tree which were not adequately irrigated will have suffered this spring. Thankfully we have now had a wet spell and trees are looking good.

In this and many areas the previous nine months of 2020/2021 have been the most difficult I can ever remember for establishing trees. After a very wet winter with the ground waterlogged for several weeks it suddenly became very dry in late March onwards. There were very late frosts into May which superficially damaged many tree species. Here, apart from very occasional light showers we have had no significant rain since late March. Properly irrigated trees have thrived but those without watering have suffered very badly and some have died, even ones which have been planted out for several years in their final positions. The drought was even severe in parts of Wales but that area has now had significant rain. I know of several tree planting schemes professionaly planted that have suffered almost total losses. The tree that has survived the challenging conditions better than any other is Field Maple, which has always been one of my favourite trees, hundreds of specimens planted here last spring have thrived despite some having had no irrigation and that includes some very large specimens approachiing 20 ft high. In early to Mid August Aug it has rained heavily . It dried out again very quickly but proper rain has at last come in the last few days of September This has helped struggling trees but has come too late for some. It is worth noting that the last 8 months are the windiest here I can recall for many years, these winds cause damage to many young trees, especially evergreens. G.G.Locke Oct 2021 updated in Aug 2023.