Newsletter – Issue 12

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the 12th Leach Press and Oakist Press newsletter, 18th August 2026.

The aim is simple – once a week, I'll send a short update covering new books, new videos, events, projects and life at Oakwood.

Thank you for subscribing and supporting independent publishing.

The newsletter archive is now live on the website. Each issue also includes a photo appendix from around Oakwood.

New Oakist Press books

Four new books have recently been released through Oakist Press.

All four books are available here:

If you've bought and enjoyed any of these books, a review on Amazon, Goodreads or social media really helps independent authors reach new readers.

New Leach Press book

One new book has recently been released through The Leach Press.

The book is available here:

New videos this week

Watch all videos here:

Oakwood Rewilding Project

Work continues at Oakwood in Llanbrynmair.

We are still waiting to hear back from the cricket bat company regarding the willow scheme. But we have had contact from The Woodland Trust asking us to confirm our curtilage and I expect to hear if our proposal was successful this week. We have found a local free tree supplier though and made first contact. I have sourced some local (Welshpool) acers for a small (thirty trees or so) maple copse to be planted in winter. I have also started sourcing trees for a cider orchard, although I still need to find a local(ish) source of tart apples on M25 rootstock.

Both the polytunnel and Justyn's outside plots are seriously producing now and we will soon have to start giving produce away locally. Erika continues to plant new goodies and remove the old ones.

Mulching continues as always. I have been scattering wildflower seeds in various places, including round the Pond-a-Rosa.

The Oakwood chicken project is also taking shape. The house is now in position and the framework for the run is being assembled beside the woodland. There is still work to do before the residents arrive, but it is beginning to look considerably more like a chicken enclosure and rather less like a collection of bits Justyn and I found lying around.

Erika and Elsi are planning to keep bees for honey. Erika is now sourcing the necessary kit.

The 6 m yurt for Erika's therapy practice is on hold now until spring next year. We are going to move her smaller yurt in North Wales soon though, although we might just use that for the planned campsite (more in forthcoming editions). We're almost ready to hit go on a wild campsite, but are holding back due to the current fire risk. This also meant we had to cancel my party. I have public liability insurance in place and Justyn is going to act as the general manager.

The Art-a-van has been totally stripped and cleaned (on the outside at least). No progress on the stand-alone solar system (except planning and sourcing cheap panels).

We continue to maintain the paths round the site.

Where the stream is growing a woodland

Another part of Oakwood is beginning to show us where it wants to go. Along the woodland and stream edge beside the hardstanding (where Justyn has his caravans), a mixture of wet ground, established trees and less disturbed vegetation is creating something quite different from the open fields.

The large grey willow and alder are perhaps the clearest signs of what is happening. Both are well suited to damp ground and, left largely to themselves, can help form the beginnings of a small area of wet woodland. Ash, hazel and calycine hawthorn add another woody layer, while ferns, bramble and ivy are filling the spaces beneath and between the trees. European larch and Sitka spruce provide a conifer presence among the predominantly broad-leaved vegetation.

Closer to the stream, the plants change again. Square-stalked willowherb, yellow pimpernel, downy buttercup and the usual grasses and reeds reflect the damper conditions. Hemlock water-dropwort is also growing here. It is a natural plant of wet places, although an extremely poisonous one, so this is definitely a species to admire without adding it to the salad. Some of you may remember my viral Facebook post when we all took a nibble thinking it was wild celery…

There are plenty of familiar Oakwood opportunists too. Dock, nettles, fireweed, bramble and bracken are taking advantage of light, fertile ground and disturbance. Rather than trying to tidy them away, the plan here is mainly to watch what happens, intervening where necessary to prevent them overwhelming young trees or paths.

What makes this little area particularly interesting is its structure. Within a relatively short distance there is stream edge, damp ground, tall vegetation, scrub and established woodland. Fallen material, dense undergrowth and the mixture of sunny and shaded places create still more niches for insects, birds and other wildlife.

While the central field is gradually developing its mixture of meadow, rushes and scrub, this corner of Oakwood seems to be heading in another direction. Here, natural succession is quietly knitting together the stream and woodland.

Sometimes rewilding means planting trees or managing dominant vegetation. Sometimes the best job is simply to notice that nature has already started the work.

Appendix 1 gives the August Rewilding Plan. More photographs have also been added to the August appendix on the website.

We still need more rain, although the borehole seems to be holding up. The Pond-a-Rosa is still completely empty though.

It has been another week of those small Oakwood jobs that somehow manage to consume far more time than their size suggests. The new cooker is now properly settled into the horsebox after a few minor leaks were tracked down in the gas fittings and fixed. I have also invested in an electronic gas leak detector, which gives me another way of checking the LPG system rather than relying solely on leak-detection spray and my increasingly suspicious nose.

The horsebox sink has had some attention too, with a new waste pipe installed to replace the old arrangement. Nothing terribly glamorous, but considerably preferable to discovering that the washing-up water has decided to explore the floor instead.

Technology has also joined the continuing war with the pesky mice. I have bought a small endoscope camera that plugs into my phone, allowing me to peer into the otherwise inaccessible roof spaces of the static and work out where the little sods are travelling, nesting or holding their secret committee meetings. Whether this gives me an advantage remains to be seen. The mice have, after all, had considerably longer to study the building than I have.

There was a personal milestone this week as well. After gradually building up my running over the past few weeks, I finally reached the target I had set myself and completed my first 5 km run. Given that the whole idea was simply to keep increasing the distance bit by bit, actually seeing 5 km appear on the treadmill felt remarkably satisfying. The next question, naturally, is whether I can persuade myself that 5 km is enough rather than immediately inventing another target…

Finally, there was a rather bigger event overhead. Oakwood provided a fine observation point for the eclipse, adding something genuinely celestial to a week otherwise dominated by gas fittings, waste pipes and rodents. A photograph of the eclipse from Oakwood is included on the website. For a short while at least, looking upwards proved much more rewarding than looking down drains or into the roof.

DJ news

One set this week:

The December ska and punk all-dayer in Newtown – celebrating my 60th, along with Erika's and Justyn's birthdays – is now well into the planning stage. Flyer and link below. All welcome.

Facebook event link:

Modelling

My model of the Peace Convoy on the A303, bound for the Battle of the Beanfield in June 1985, is now complete and I have mounted it on the wall of the horsebox. I just need to surround it with clear plastic sheet. You can find videos of it here:

Justyn and I also visited a model railway exhibition (Watford Junction) in Aberystwyth.

Coming soon

Work continues on a number of current and future projects, including:

• Further video episodes of Physics, Consciousness & Reality
• Further video episodes of Living on the Road, Waterways or Off-grid in the UK
• Further video episodes of Crime, Punishment & Justice (although not until one of the above is complete)
• Further videos on off-grid living, continuing on the theme of solar (full solar design example next, hence slight delay)
• New Oakist Press releases:
  • Books from Marge Hunter, Saz Denny, Stu Schotnes and Alan Brown
  • Resources and the Future: An Anarchist Perspective (me)
  • Education: An Anarchist Perspective (me)

Author's note

Between writing, filming, publishing and rewilding, life is certainly busy – but I wouldn't have it any other way. Every week Oakwood changes a little more, the books continue to grow, and it's a privilege to share that journey with you.