Our newest Community Woodland

We started planting at Waypost Wood in 2017 and have now completed it, as of March 2018! It’s 7 hectares (17 acres) at the edge of Cranfield, with a WW2 pillbox located in the boundary hedge.

Did you know - about 28,000 pillboxes and other hardened field fortifications were constructed in England in 1940 as part of the British anti-invasion preparations for WW2. About 6,500 of these structures still survive.

Photo from 1951 - Pauline and her father dig up potatoes at Waypost Wood when it was an allotment
Photo: Jane Heritage

We specifically didn’t plant any ash trees at this site, because of ash dieback – we planted hornbeams instead. Hornbeam is old English for ‘hard tree’ – and as the wood is so hard, it is used for butchers' chopping blocks and cogs for windmills and watermills.

There are mown and surfaced paths that are level enough for buggies and wheelchairs, and benches in Millennium Park, which is adjacent to the site.

Brownies planting at Waypost Wood in 2018

How to get there:

There is no parking available at this woodland - so please do not drive there!
Access from: Lodge Road

Walk

Nearby: Circular walk from the Forest Centre (10 miles)
The Bourne Potter Trail (2.5 miles)
Cranfield to Hulcote Wood (10 miles)

Cycle

Nearby routes: Route 51 (length varies) from Oxford to Milton Keynes, Sandy and Cambridge.

For more information, or to report an issue at any of these sites please call 01234 767037 or email us.

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Help us look after this site

Money doesn't grow on trees - donate now

If your friends and family use Waypost Wood then please let them know that it is run by the Forest of Marston Vale and not the council. Land is expensive and managing woodlands is expensive. It isn't as simple as putting a tree in the ground and walking away - it costs £20 to plant one tree and look after it for 5 years. So trees don't cost the earth, but they might just save it.