Training the foresters of the future

In January 2025, Antonia Illingworth joined us as our first Forestry Trainee, a role funded by the Nature Recovery Partnership (TNRP). The local forestry workforce is highly skilled and experienced, but ageing, so the Forest of Marston Vale Trust is leading the way in preparing the foresters of the future. Here Antonia shares with us her experiences from the first half of her traineeship, just as we are about to start recruiting for our next two trainees, who will join us in September.

Written by Antonia Illingworth. Posted 17th June 2025

From volunteer to paid trainee

My journey with the Forest of Marston Vale Trust began as a volunteer, which was a fun and “hands on” way to build up my skills and contacts while I was looking for work. Ranger, Lottie Scoltock, told me about the opportunity to do a traineeship with the Trust: a year’s worth of paid experience in forestry and conservation.

Since starting the traineeship in January, the last few months have flown by, with lots of different placements keeping me busy. What originally attracted me to the traineeship was the opportunity to attend funded courses, and gain certified skills to develop my CV. The role has definitely delivered in this aspect but has also allowed me to work with different teams internally and externally, all of which have been great learning environments, supporting well-rounded professional development.

Learning traditional skills

As part of the Biodiversity Improvement Project at Southill, I helped to lay a hedge using a chainsaw, seeing how traditional techniques could be updated for active biodiversity improvement on a large scale. The practice of hedgelaying thickens and rejuvenates a hedge, making it an ideal habitat for bugs, birds and small mammals. Traditionally, a billhook or an axe, though in this case a chainsaw, would be used to cut the hedge shrubs almost entirely through their stems, before folding them over, which encourages growth. It was exciting to continue to be part of Southill’s project – where I had originally helped with bird ringing as a volunteer before my traineeship began.

I continued to develop traditional skills at Wasseldine with Guy and Jane Lambourne, and their daughter Molly. I was shown how to use a billhook, and handle an axe, use a shave horse and weave willow, and see how traditional charcoal making worked – how the temperature of a huge metal vessel was carefully monitored to create charcoal which we packed into bags by hand. These felt like culturally and historically significant skills to learn – and Wasseldine is well rooted within its community.

I attended a Bedfordshire Environmental Education Network meeting with Jane, and a willow weaving workshop led by Guy – getting a chance to observe how the family business connects with both peers and clients.

Machinery handling

Helping with path maintenance at Conquest Wood with Barrie and Ben from Countryside Contracts, I had the opportunity to gain experience using a digger, loader and roller. This was an exciting challenge, and I loved noticing my skills improve as the placement went on. All the machinery required more delicate, precise handling than I had expected – for example, it was interesting to learn how a metal attachment called a ‘blade’ on the digger could be manoeuvred so that the bucket could be safely filled without unbalancing the machine. I was pleased to help create a final product with a neat finish, and details like a camber to the path, that would help rain to run off it.

Teamwork on site

I have recently achieved my PA1 certificate in Safe Use of Pesticides, and been on placement with Steve Dilley’s team spraying herbicides to keep a weed-free area around young trees. I had a great time working with this fun, hard-working team on a physically demanding task.

Each of us filled a 15 Litre nap sac with dilute herbicide and carried it to spray a metre’s radius around each tree in a planting plot. Some of the plots are made up of thousands of trees, so it definitely takes a team effort. We were lucky with bright, clear days – I loved being outdoors, wading through crimson clover and ox eye daisies.

We also carried out some felling at Silsoe, making space to install a new culvert, and I gained some more chainsaw experience, developing my confidence in felling mature trees.

Helping with fencing, I used a spirit level on posts to ensure a neat fence-line. This gave me an opportunity to develop my communication skills: since ear-protection was required to operate a post-knocker digger attachment, we couldn’t speak, and instead I needed to signal whether a post was level through pointing! This meant Steve, operating the digger arm, could make required adjustments.

Developing my digital skills

I have continued to develop my communication skills through working on projects with the Communications Team here at the Charity. I have loved researching for, and writing, blogs about Harvest Mice, and Hedgerows, for example. I’ve been excited to take on the responsibility of following writing briefs, and completing copy-editing tasks. Working with Jo Roberts, the Trust’s Community Engagement Officer, I visited schools, writing a case study about one school’s Trees for Climate experience. Learning how to use Canva allowed me to further develop my video editing skills. In my free time, I enjoy writing and music – posting poems and songs on social media, so it was fun to continue to develop skills at work that I also enjoy in my personal life.

Opportunities to develop my digital skills more broadly have been very valuable – for example, using QGIS for mapping tree compartments, finding and labelling their areas. I am building a solid foundation of mapping skills, and I hope to gain confidence with more complex techniques as I progress. A particularly satisfying and useful technique is to ‘geo-reference’ one map onto another – this is helpful when, for example, seeing how a historic map compares to a new version, or exploring the Rights of Way that often criss-cross woodlands.

I recently visited and mapped compartments at an ancient woodland site - it’s a privilege to be able to access ancient woodlands in this role. There’s always an abundance of things to catch my interest – for example, yellow-barred longhorn moths, gathered on nettles in a glittery array of metallic gold – with their distinctive yellow stripe, and long antennae waving.

Ancient woodland restoration

At Holcot Wood, things are progressing well, and it’s exciting to be working with the Forest of Marston Vale Trust near the beginning of this ancient woodland’s restoration journey. Recently, I have helped Senior Ranger, Nicola Ceconi, and Community Forester, Luke Quenby, to investigate the ponds for newts using bottle traps. Evening newt explorations in this quiet ancient wood, as soft summer light gradually gives way and night draws in, might be one of the best adventures of the job so far – especially when the morning reveals newts in the bottle traps! Ponds are great habitats, and can be teeming with secret life; it’s always exciting to observe something in nature that would normally be hidden from view.

What the future holds

I have gained so much from the traineeship so far and am looking ahead to the next six months with plenty more learning opportunities in store – like tractor driving and soil chemistry courses, conferences, and a regenerative agriculture festival to attend.

Applications will soon open for two new recruits to begin the traineeship in September, and I would definitely recommend applying. Entry-level opportunities to work in practical conservation roles are few and far between; with a wide range of professional development opportunities, this traineeship is not one to miss. An engaging and worthwhile experience, this traineeship is giving me everything I need to be a confident applicant to future roles – particularly the practical experience listed on many person specifications.

Having read Zoology BSc (Hons) at the University of Glasgow, I come from a science background, and hope to marry up my scientific curiosity, practical conservation skills, and communication skills in my next adventure.

Inspired by Antonia’s journey?

If this sounds like the kind of opportunity you’d love to get stuck into, applications are now open for our Forestry Trainee roles starting this September. It’s a unique, year-long paid placement offering hands-on experience, accredited training, and the chance to work on real conservation projects across the Forest.

Find out more and apply now