Hayley Wood

Now, I don't want to suggest that I was in any way disappointed, because Hayley Wood IS lovely. But I was hoping for some real oldsters among the oaks.

They had done some excellent coppice work in one area, and the birds there! It was bird and invertebrate heaven!

I saw some fallow deer, but didn't manage to get a picture of them. The nuthatch is nice though.

One of the coolest things was sitting with an ash - the one at the end with the incredible heart. This was actually three trees, who must have grown as shoots when the older stem in the middle died or was felled. Now they are like the Fates, three stems struggling with dieback. And they explained what making peace with the darkness is all about.