Bel's Wood

In that wonderful spell of sunny weather we had in April 2025, I decided to once again sleep out at Bel’s Wood in my hammock. I have got out of the habit of sleeping up there and also my tarp got ripped in a storm last year so I needed to do some prep.  After a few practices with my much larger tarp which I had bought as a rain shelter and replacing some tent pegs I chose a date. A couple of friends joined me for supper around the fire which was a lovely  way of starting my mini adventure! I kept warm in front of the fire as it went dark and the temperature began to drop.  The bird life quietened down for the night with just a few owl squarks and barks from the foxes in the background. The sky was clear of cloud but full of moisture with poor ‘seeing’ for star gazing. With a bright  moon only the large constellations and planets were visible. I walked around in the evening by moonlight, no torch required. Moon above the dying camp fire Orion looking large and stan...

  It’s been 4 years since the land constituting Bel’s Wood was enclosed and grazing ceased. The deer fence was erected 3 years ago the wood became fully deer proof just over a year ago.  The land is visibly recovering with self seeded saplings appearing on the woodland floor and some of the mature trees are changing now they are not being continually grazed. New saplings are appearing - the most common are Blackthorn and Birch I’m not protecting the Blackthorn as it is so common and have their own thorns but I have moved some well established Birch into areas where some bought in saplings planted last year didn’t take and I am protecting those from smaller mammals such as hares and voles with spirals. I am particularly pleased to see these self seeded Ash saplings and I have left them where they are hoping that they estalish themselves and are Ash Dieback free. I found about a dozen of these tiddlers under a deep Hawthorn and Hazel canopy and realise these are Ash too. They ...

  I’ve watched the mature willow tree sprout pussy willow The first catkins opened on the Hazel trees And the first buds have appeared on the saplings planted last year And the first green leaves burst into the sunshine (still working out who this is - planted in the Aspen zone but I think the planters had some random trees left as they planted this area last) But none of this explains the feeling I experience each spring when I watch the skeletal trees on the horizon with a sense of delight and wonder and I  don’t want the first leaves to appear.  It's the same wistfulness I feel in autumn, wanting the colours to hang on before winter. I don’t quite understand this as I love to see the blossom emerge and the air to be full of the buzz of insects again.  To see the fresh leaves giving the widest range of greens across the canopy. I thought this was an emotional response; wanting to slow down the rotation of the earth as once everything starts to bloom it is hard ...