Four Seasons for a Silver Birch (The Marion Tree)
The entrance to Bel’s Wood has a small clearing for a few cars and a gate to the country lane. I arrive and leave from this point on each visit. Right from the beginning I admired this mature Silver Birch overlooking the entrance. It always felt like a welcome and a farewell; grand but standing back; beautiful, tall and confident. It took a while but after a visit from some relatives to the wood I associated the tree with Marion and so I now call this tree The Marion Tree. I have photographed and taken videos of The Marion Tree in all seasons and thought I would collate them here as they begin to tell the story of Bel’s Wood and the work I have done there with help over the last 5 years. I am pleased to find this photo which was taken the day I visited the wood for the first time in August 2020 when it was on the market. The gate was not in place at this point and I was fighting my way through the bracken to try and reach the perimeter to get a sense of the whole plot. Two years la...