Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Monday, 4 January 2010
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." Chinese Proverb
10 years ago when Susy and I got married we decided to plant a wood. Our friends and family gave us trees and eventually in 2006 we found a perfect little field in Dovedale in The Peak District. In March of that year at her first ever land auction, Susy, with her friend Sue, successfully bidded for Lot no.1 and our dream was born. The first tree we planted was an oak tree for Susy's dad Bill, who had loved our idea. Since then we have planted over 200 trees, as well as hundreds of daffodils, bluebells, snowdrops and cowslips.
We have been helped by a great local farmer,Philip, who's farm you can see on the main photo. He has helped us mend and make fences, cut the grass for hay, grazed the land with his sheep, as well as pulling mud-stuck camper vans out with his tractor.
Susy and I have spent fantastic days on the field, through all weathers, planting trees, fence building, digging in bulbs and just enjoying the peace. Bendle helped out with days of fence building, teaching me about sheep netting and fence post hammers.
The sky is often alive with the songs of skylarks, we see and hear curlew and summer swallows and have disturbed resting pheasant and hares. The kids follow the badger tracks, fly kites and learn which nettles are safe to touch.
There have been great nights of camping, with fire-side songs, toasted marshmallows and torch-lit hide and seek.
The more time we spend there, the more we feel we begin to know this ancient land and wonder at the incredible views from Station House Hill (the shark's fin) to Pilsbury motte and bailey castle and over to the Manifold Valley.
Our trees are a mixture of mainly native deciduous including oak, green beech, yew, blackthorn, mountain ash, small leave lime, goat willow, silver birch, scots pine, downy birch, walnut, alder, field maple, dog rose, hawthorn, wild cherry and purple beech.
On my 40th birthday we built a willow "twigloo" in the rain, helped by Steve and Simeone who brought their fresh cut willow from Cumbria. The day before my 41st in bright sunshine and with earth snowy and frost-hard, we added a willow tunnel.
10 years ago when Susy and I got married we decided to plant a wood. Our friends and family gave us trees and eventually in 2006 we found a perfect little field in Dovedale in The Peak District. In March of that year at her first ever land auction, Susy, with her friend Sue, successfully bidded for Lot no.1 and our dream was born. The first tree we planted was an oak tree for Susy's dad Bill, who had loved our idea. Since then we have planted over 200 trees, as well as hundreds of daffodils, bluebells, snowdrops and cowslips.
We have been helped by a great local farmer,Philip, who's farm you can see on the main photo. He has helped us mend and make fences, cut the grass for hay, grazed the land with his sheep, as well as pulling mud-stuck camper vans out with his tractor.
Susy and I have spent fantastic days on the field, through all weathers, planting trees, fence building, digging in bulbs and just enjoying the peace. Bendle helped out with days of fence building, teaching me about sheep netting and fence post hammers.
The sky is often alive with the songs of skylarks, we see and hear curlew and summer swallows and have disturbed resting pheasant and hares. The kids follow the badger tracks, fly kites and learn which nettles are safe to touch.
There have been great nights of camping, with fire-side songs, toasted marshmallows and torch-lit hide and seek.
The more time we spend there, the more we feel we begin to know this ancient land and wonder at the incredible views from Station House Hill (the shark's fin) to Pilsbury motte and bailey castle and over to the Manifold Valley.
Our trees are a mixture of mainly native deciduous including oak, green beech, yew, blackthorn, mountain ash, small leave lime, goat willow, silver birch, scots pine, downy birch, walnut, alder, field maple, dog rose, hawthorn, wild cherry and purple beech.
On my 40th birthday we built a willow "twigloo" in the rain, helped by Steve and Simeone who brought their fresh cut willow from Cumbria. The day before my 41st in bright sunshine and with earth snowy and frost-hard, we added a willow tunnel.
Thankyou to everyone who gave us trees in some form or other; our wood is beginning to grow.
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