Rest day! I feel much better, especially after a lie-in; the clocks went back an hour. Actually, they went back yesterday but our hosts decided to tell us today! At last we have had some time to wash our clothes (10 days into the expedition), and thanks to the sunny weather they were dry by evening. The family have been winnowing sunflower seeds and bagging them under the shade of the apple orchard.Continue Reading

Nature brings us gifts in abundance at this time of year.  I was lucky to enjoy one after another during a brief visit to a jewel in England’s woodlands: the Forest of Dean. I soaked in the view from Symonds Yat Rock, a popular landmark in the Forest, where theContinue Reading

My forestry research work took me to the USA and Italy looking for the best ways to grow walnut trees for timber.  Foresters in both countries pioneered the planting of nitrogen-fixing trees or shrubs with hardwood trees, where their ability to improve soil fertility for ‘hungry’ species, such as walnut,Continue Reading

In 1995 I took a series of panoramic photos and made sketches to explore how Paradise Wood, the new woodland that I was creating for the Northmoor Trust, would fit in the landscape of the future.  I was developing Paradise Wood as a new woodland and a centre for forestryContinue Reading