At the March meeting Conservation Manager, Andy Nicholls, asked the Friends for help with a 'head count survey' to determine how many people use the woods for leisure activities. The Countryside Service needs an idea of visitor numbers and the accuracy of existing counters in order to develop their management plan.
Local historian, John Goodchild, then gave a fascinating talk on the history of Haw Park Wood and its owners. The earliest document he could find with the area named, the Hou, was from 1160 when it was owned by Nostell Priory.
By 1540 the wood was part of the Waterton family's property and was named Haw Park in deeds of 1636, being 300 acres of commercial woodland with 12 acres harvested each year in a 21-year cycle. Oak, ash and elm were cut for all manner of products, including smaller branches being used for charcoal and bark sold for tanning.
Early mines in the area provided coal for Walton Hall but in 1708 the colliery was extended, with a right of way through the wood for the sale of coal to Crofton. In 1717 there were some clearances for farming, as evidenced in recent archaeological surveys.
In 1725, when the Watertons had financial difficulties, the wood was sold to the Earl of Westmorland. Charles Waterton - now recognised as the first conservationist - managed to buy it back in two phases, in 1819 and 1824, when it became part of the country's first nature reserve.
The Barnsley Canal navigation, started in 1793 and opened in 1799, cuts through the south of the wood and was in active use for carrying coal until 1950.
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