Saturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density and soil organic carbon content were determined on soil samples extracted from the upper 50 cm of the soil profile for three paired upland woodland and grassland sites in northern England. The site pairs consisted of new deciduous plantation (less than five years old) and pasture, Fifteen year old deciduous plantation and pasture, and finally a site with mature deciduous woodland and pasture. Comparisons were made between woodland and pasture soil properties. The work was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council Grant NE/R004595/1: Optimising Natural Flood risk Management (NFM) in headwater catchments to protect downstream communities.