Sitting with a brew in a golden glade in Great Lindeth Wood, it is hard to imagine any better place to be on a sun-dappled afternoon.

About 12 years ago, Darryl Kelbrick and Jo Clayton bought the land and the caravan which they live in. Now the wood is not only their home but also their livelihood, their workspace and their mission, as they maintain and improve its biodiversity, make a sustainable living from what it provides and live off-grid beneath its creaking branches.

Jo, 51, grew up in Stockport, but time she spent travelling helped to instill her love of the outdoor life.

“I'd had that idea and desire to have a patch of land to be in for quite a long time. It came from travelling in some remote spots and seeing how people live in those places.”

When Jo returned from travelling she moved to Lancaster, doing support work in the youth, education and social care sector, and bumped into Darryl at a friend’s barbecue in Kendal.

The couple soon got together and after only a year began bidding on woodland for auction around the South Lakes. They eventually purchased the 33-acre Great Lindeth Wood near Bouth, in the Rusland Valley.

“There was a feeling of “What have we done? What do we do now?’,” remembers Darryl, 50.

“I had an office job in Kendal for quite a long time, but I’d stare out of the window and dream about being self-employed and being in charge of my own destiny,” he says.

The desire eventually led Darryl to quit his career in corporate finance and set out doing various jobs before meeting Jo.

"We didn't have a massive master plan, particularly,” he says.

“I didn't really know about woodland management, but I’d always liked the idea of the off-grid thing and self-sufficiency really appealed to me. We just decided to go for it.”

They set about learning how to manage the woodland that was to become their home.

The first job was one of the toughest and involved Darryl spending days at the controls of a digger constructing a kilometre-long circular access track. They followed this by building a large solar-powered barn for housing forestry equipment.

While the initial part of the work was carried out they were simultaneously running a business renting out yurts to holidaymakers near Windermere and Jo was still doing her day job.

"It was a massive learning curve and it was hard work, but we thought if we are going to do it, then we need to completely commit to it," she says.

"That was one of the reasons I wanted to do it, to see if we could do it and do it our way,” says Darryl.

When they first came onto the site the woodland itself had not been managed for some time. Although it had been coppiced previously, the coppiced trees had been neglected and were in poor health, with some beginning to die. One of their biggest tasks has involved bringing these areas back into use.

Alongside their day-to-day management of the woodland, the couple also run their own businesses; Jo making furniture and crafts and Darryl producing charcoal products.

“I just started going on lots of green woodcraft courses, if it was there and it was free then I was on it,” says Jo, who has an open studio and workshop at the Grizedale Forest visitor centre.

Jo cuts birch and hazel in the winter when the trees are dormant and the sap is still, then lets them dry and begins work when it is still green. She turns this into a variety of upholstered stools and ornamental crafts, as well individually commissioned pieces.

"It feels right to let the woods live on in a different form if you can do that," she says.

"I need to work with something that I love and find beautiful because that makes the process really satisfying. If I finish something and I think it's absolutely gorgeous then I'm happy.”

While Darryl began selling charcoal as traditional barbecue fuel, he is seeing a growing market for gardeners’ biochar which is used to enrich soils, as well as granulated charcoal for animals.

His granulated charcoal is popular with dog owners who want to reduce the amount of noxious emissions and maintain good gut health for their pets. He also sells charcoal to the equine market for the same reason.

“If you put the biochar on your garden it stays in the soil and helps to grow the soil biology, which in turn helps the plants and the nutrients and the soil structure for decades,” says Darryl. “It's a long-term investment in the soil. The structure means it's a really good home for bacteria and it will absorb water and then release it in dry periods.” In addition the charcoal also attracts and retains nutrients, stopping them getting washed away when it rains.

They are also focused on making more use of the woodland in the future, for example by inviting groups to come and experience outdoor life for themselves, taking part in woodland activities such as woodworking courses and campfire cooking, with the potential for overnight stays.

“We're trying to make this whole project sustainable; long-term sustainable for the woodland, sustainable financially and sustainable for us, it’s got to be enjoyable for us as well,” says Jo.

"When you say you're living in the woods a lot of people think you're paddling about in a load of mud, but it’s not like that, it's lovely in fact,” says Darryl. “I’ve no desire to go back to living any other way.”