#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 18/Mar/22

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Nature, opinion, Photography

When first planted on the sloping field, these larch trees were placed in rows. It made it easier to put them in and will make it easier to harvest them. For they are a crop. The forest is a working forest, trees grown for timber. But, because it is also a nationally owned enterprise, Forestry England do what they can to encourage wildlife and to make the place accessible to the public.
It’s a real asset, right on our doorstep. We walk up to 50 different routes from our front door, covering distances between 2 and 5 miles without ever needing to resort to the car. That won’t be the case forever. In fact, along several of our favourite walks trees have been marked for felling. Some because they are old and may soon fall (indeed, a good number fell in the recent storms), some because new power lines are due to be driven through the forest, and most to be harvested for timber.
We’ll have to walk a little further afield once this work begins, explore our area more widely, which will mean using the car to reach some places. We’ve mixed feeling about that. As environmentalists, we prefer not to drive if we don’t have to. But the distances will be too far for walks from the door which will eventually involve longish distances along the roads whilst the work goes on.
On the plus side, the forest recovers remarkably quickly from such cropping. And the new plantings will be mixed hardwood and evergreens, as the managers have realised monoculture encourages the spread of natural disease. A recent example of that resulted in hundreds of native ash trees being felled, especially along the forest roads. It was an essential removal, as the trees suffering from ash die-back were a danger to passing traffic and a source of infection for other trees.
It will be a time of change, but one we’ll embrace and make the most of.

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12 thoughts on “#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 18/Mar/22”

    1. It’s a larch plantation, Noelle. And the photo was shot along one of the vehicle access points, which form straight avenues through the mass of trees. But, if you go off track, which is easy on this moss covered floor, you can wander freely and the straight lines soon change to a more random pattern due to occasional tree falls, cutting, and wild seeding of new trees. They’re around 70-80 years old now and some are due to be felled soon, but others will be left to grow to their full natural height and girth. There’s a strange and attractive ‘magical’ air to this part of the forest, and we understand it was used for some scenes in a couple of TV progs and films.

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  3. That’s a gorgeous photo, Stuart. In November, my M moved us to a new home (Penticton is between two lakes – we left one lakeside for the other) because we wanted to be in a more walkable area, especially once I retire. I have spent the last two weeks becoming more acquainted and it’s wonderful to walk to dinner, walk for a hike (we could do that at the other end, too, but everything else was car), walk to shop. The car has mostly stayed in the garage. So sorry to hear that you might be using your car more. Is there public transit available?

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    1. Thanks, Lynette. That move sounds great and hopefully will bring everything you want for your retirement.
      Unfortunately, due to our rural location, and nature of the places we’ll be visiting to walk, public transport is currently unavailable. I say ‘currently’ because there are small signs our government may do something to improve the public transport. But it will almost certainly be too little, too late, as is usual with this lot. The distances we need to travel will be short, and our car is pretty economical in fuel terms (up to 60 mpg), so not too much environmental impact. For the moment, we’re still able to walk from the door. Yesterday, we covered a distance of 7.5 miles, so our range is quite reasonable at present, but my osteoarthritis is occasionally limiting. Ah, the vagaries of aging, eh?

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      1. My M was extremely busy with it for a couple of months, but it’s finished now. We’re doing a few renovations that M will be organising and supervising when I return north; we hope it’s finished for my summer holiday time. Our public transit is good in town, but terrible between communities. It really should be much better than what it is – our gov’t needs to make private vehicles a little more difficult to operate, in my opinion.

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        1. Public transport, if state owned, could be so much more comfortable and convenient, and would make such a difference to the carbon footprint in most countries. As long as it remains a means of making profits for private companies, it will serve their business interests rather than the needs of the communities, I’m afraid.

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          1. Our public transit is provincially owned and works so well within communities, but there’s absolutely nothing to get from one community to another, not even privately owned options. The personal vehicle is big.

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              1. Nope. The one we had for about 100 years went bankrupt and hasn’t been replaced. There are some very local coach services in some areas, but otherwise it’s rapid rail, regular rail, flight or vehicle. Because we’re such a geographically large country (five time zones) with a relatively small population, we’ve become lazy about efficiency. And right now we have a PM who loves to talk the talk, but the walk has walked away.

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