A RURAL skill dating back more than 6,000 years is being revived by a group of North Yorkshire craftsmen.

The art of coppicing and the making of hurdles is thriving for Mr Chris Morley in the North York Moors national park village of Nawton, near Helmsley.

He quit his job as an IBM computer programmer living at Hebden Bridge to pursue his passion for the environment and make a living out of it.

"I was involved in a number of enviuronmental and Third World campaigning issues" said Mr Morley. "One of these was Walk for the Earth, where a number of us walked to London and handed a petition to Prime Minister John Major just before the Rio earth summit. That really focused the mind and I decided to do something more to help the environment than just campaigning".

He opted to pursue his hobby skills with wood and moved to the pretty village of Nawton because of a lack of available coppice woodland in the Pennines.

Today, he is working in ancient woodlands at Bedale, Cropton, Sleightholmedale, and Wrelton, restoring them by traditional coppice management and creating a wealth of products including hurdles, wattle fencing and charcoal.

His charcoal production has been so successful that he is now supplying store giants B & Q.

Mr Morley is one of six members of the Three Ridings coppice group which is in the forefront of woodland conservation and restoration.

Coppicing died out many years ago but the group is bringing it back and at the same time regenerating ancient woodland, especially hazel which is used for hurdle making, thatching spars, hedging and fencing.

The group is a co-operative of independent coppice workers which aims to raise public awareness of the ecological benefits of reinstating coppice management in broadleaved woods.

As a result of scheme, many woodland plants in the national park which disappeared for years, are now thriving, among them orchids, bluebells and violets, and habitats have been created for many species of birds, butterflies, mammals and insects, said Mr Morley.

The group is backed by Yorwoods, the North Yorkshir woodland initiative, which has given grants towards the restoration of the woods.

Mr Rob Garrett, the marketing manager of Yorwoods, which is based at Aske near Richmond, said it provided funding to stimulate better woodland management and had the financial and practical support of many leading organisations, including the European Union, English Nature, the national park authorities of the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales, and Forestry Commission.

It also provided training courses and has so far given £158,000 to make old woodlands an economic success by providing job opportunities and skills as well as enhancing their environment, said Mr Garrett.