Dr Keith Powell is a seventh-generation Black Mountains farmer and a vet.

He studied veterinary medicine at Cambridge University and lives with his family off-grid in the Brecon Beacons. He has planted tens of thousands of trees since childhood and once drove from Wales to Madrid with a car boot full of conkers, which he planted by the roadside (he ran out in Cognac). In 2017, he initiated the project to plant on Bryn Arw common, adjacent to the Powell family farm.

Robert Penn, former lawyer, round the world cyclist, journalist, best-selling author and broadcaster, moved to a house beside Bryn Arw, fifteen years ago.

He wrote The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees, about the ash tree and Woods: A Celebration, published by the National Trust. He wrote and presented Tales From the Wildwood, a series for BBC4 about woodland management. He is patron of the Small Woods Association and he set up a local community woodland group.

Dr. Mark Morgan is a 3rd generation Black Mountains farmer.

In a previous life Mark did a PhD mapping the geology of part of the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, followed by 5 years working for the Institute for Landscape Planning and Ecology at Stuttgart University, as a research coordinator looking at improving agri-environmental schemes across the EU.

Mark returned home in 2000 and took over the family farm, following organic and environmentally friendly principles. Mark has been involved with STUMP from the very beginning, helping Keith to prepare maps for the Bryn Arw site. In 2022 he began working part-time alongside Kate as a field officer specializing in small woodland and hedgerow creation schemes.

Jenny grew up two hills down the river from Stump. She brings expertise in education, environmental land management and the importance of land manager expertise and lived experience.

Dr Jenny Knight joined us as General Manager in December 2022. She completed her PhD at the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, has a Masters in Science and Technology Studies, and has significant management experience in education and teaching. She is also an expert panel member of the Trees and Timber Deep Dive Welsh Government Advisory board and has past involvement with the National Forest for Wales. 

Having travelled the country over the last 20 years, Jenny is delighted to be home. She has walked and talked on these hills for as long as she can remember and is excited to be working with and for the community and within the landscape she loves.

Our new operations manager Rachel started in August 2023. She will be responsible for leading our woodland creation operations this winter, and has been out and about meeting our volunteers at the nursery and on our Bracken Bash weekends.

Within her first two weeks Rachel had already got her feet into one of the most important aspects, monitoring our plant sites and meeting our landowners, providing advice to both them and our woodland creation team for our future projects!

Jenny Parry is a local farmer and admin aficionado working part-time in the office. She works really closely with our land managers and has key oversight of nursery stock and tree logistics

Andrew is a finance professional, woodland owner-manager and woodworker. He has spent most of his working life in and around finance. 

Gravitating naturally to the ‘commercial’ end of the sector, Andrew holds a number of Finance Director posts with small UK businesses and start-ups.  Additionally, he has been appointed to manage the financial, contractual and commercial side of specific major projects.  His background is in media and communications and also UK Furniture Designer-makers.  More recently, Andrew has brought his experience to Charities and Community interest Companies: he is engaged in supporting a number of social enterprises in southwest England. A ‘youthful’ 58, Andrew lives in the Cotswold household with his wife and two sons.

Phil Middleton worked in event management in Indonesia during the 1990s.

He returned to the UK to work in the conference industry, co-founding The Insurance Network in 2004, which company he stills runs with particular responsibility for sponsorship.