Newsletter – Issue 8

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the eighth Leach Press and Oakist Press newsletter.

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.

I am now putting the newsletters on the website and will include a photo dump each week from now onwards.

New Oakist Press books

Three new books have recently been released through Oakist Press.

New Leach Press book

One new book has recently been released through Leach Press.

New videos this week

Oakwood Rewilding Project

Work continues at Oakwood in Llanbrynmair.

Dave's willow trees are still thriving around the Pond-a-Rosa, although they need daily watering. In hindsight, I should probably have left them in pots until early winter.

There is still no news from either the cricket-bat supplier about planting more willow or from the Woodland Trust about additional trees. Fingers crossed. I have also sourced some local acers from Welshpool for a small maple copse of around thirty trees, which will be planted in winter.

Tomatoes are starting to ripen in the polytunnel. Something is munching on the brassicas. It was cabbage white butterflies last year, but we cannot find any this year, so slugs are the most likely suspects. Heavy mulching should help. Erika continues to plant new goodies and remove the old ones.

The Bracken War continues. The sneaky little buggers grow up through the stems of other plants and suddenly appear as huge fronds, making you wonder how you missed them.

The bank by the polytunnel, above Dread Palace, is growing well with a collection of hedge shrubs planted earlier and multiple local species. Bramble is our friend here – it will suppress some of the bracken, provide valuable wildlife habitat and eventually give us blackberries. The fireweed is flowering to the max.

Mulching around the new trees continues. Hopefully many will be large enough next year to outcompete the grasses, because it is a hell of a job in this weather.

Work continues on sourcing trees for a cider orchard. I still need to find a source of tart apple varieties on M25 rootstock.

The six-metre yurt for Erika's therapy practice is now on hold until spring next year. We may build a tipi in the interim, using larch from the site.

We moved Erika's art caravan – the Art-a-van – to its new home next to Dread Palace, thanks to Justyn's reversing skills. I have started stripping it out and burning the unsuitable wood, although there is still a huge load to take to the tip. The space has really opened up.

The battle with the dock is ongoing. Justyn and I each do about an hour a day with the strimmer and hedge cutter, but we are winning and nearly there.

We must start earlier next year, as most of the seeds are now ripe and brown. This means the existing plants will return, but removing the heads should reduce further spread.

A woodland edge takes shape

One of the most exciting developments this summer has been the continued natural succession in the area between the polytunnel and the woodland edge. What was once relatively open ground is steadily transforming into a rich woodland-edge habitat through a combination of natural regeneration and carefully chosen planting.

The planted apple, pear, plum, gooseberry, raspberry and redcurrant bushes are all establishing well, although growing slowly following the earlier wet conditions. Naturally regenerated oak, hazel, birch, willow and blackthorn are beginning to create the framework of a future mixed woodland.

Beneath them, a diverse ground flora has developed, including common knapweed, greater bird's-foot trefoil, yarrow, teasel, sheep's sorrel, marsh thistle, compact rush and meadow grasses.

Perhaps most encouraging is the appearance of woodland-edge species such as cow-wheat and wood small-reed. These plants often colonise naturally as open grassland begins its transition towards woodland, suggesting that ecological succession is progressing exactly as we hoped.

The variety of flowering plants now provides nectar from early spring through late summer, supporting bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. Teasel and thistles will later provide valuable seed for finches, while the developing scrub offers increasing shelter and nesting opportunities for birds and small mammals.

Rather than forcing nature into a tidy design, this area is demonstrating what can happen when natural processes are given the time and space to work. It is already becoming one of the richest and most diverse habitats on the site.

We still need some rain!

DJ news

One new reggae set was uploaded this week.

Live in Newtown – 25 July 2026

I'll be playing live at a show in Newtown on 25 July. Full details are available through the event page.

View the event →

Coming soon

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

• Further episodes of Physics, Consciousness & Reality
• Further episodes of Living on the Road, Waterways or Off-grid in the UK
• Further videos on off-grid living, continuing with solar power
• Books from Marge Hunter, Saz Denny and Alan Brown
• Crime, Justice and Punishment – An Anarchist Perspective
• Resources and the Future – An Anarchist Perspective

Crime, Justice and Punishment – An Anarchist Perspective is at the final proof stage and should be released soon.

Author's note

Between recording, writing and rewilding Oakwood, life has been wonderfully hectic this week. Running around the site each morning has now become part of the routine, and it is rewarding to see both the rewilding project and my own fitness improving together.