When I read that Sidley Wood, an SSSI north of Andover and not very far from me, has “many stands of ancient hornbeam coppice”, I immediately added it to my list of places to visit. There is a footpath running through the length of the…
Continue reading Understories – SOLD
This is a celebration of the less obvious. Hedges around fields are a commonplace feature of the English landscape and, while I think most of us are aware of their importance in terms of diversity and wildlife, we probably don’t think too hard about the…
Continue reading Hedgerow
The hamlet of Woodcott seems to consist of a farm and a church, next to one another on a one track road in an obscure corner of north Hampshire. The tiny church of St. James has a rather splendid ancient yew in the churchyard, hollowed…
Continue reading Woodcott
A woodbank is a linear boundary around or within a wood, marked by a low earthen bank. It’s a feature often associated with ancient woodland, and it’s not uncommon to find trees growing on it. These two trees, an ash and a silver birch, are…
Continue reading Woodbank
This is the third in the “mini-series” of close-ups (Beyond, depicting an ancient oak tree, was the first, followed by Coalesce, which showed an ancient sweet chestnut). This tree isn’t ancient (but it probably got to a decent age for its species, which I think…
Continue reading Echo Chamber
(framed)
Danebury Hill, between Andover and Stockbridge in Hampshire, has featured in my work before (most recently in Deep Dark Wood). It is topped with a significant iron age hill fort, managed by the county council, and is blessed with many lovely trees, most of which…
Continue reading Shaded Path
This beech tree – part of the row along the wood bank at Snelsmore Common that featured in Epic and Babes in the Wood – has an exceptional collection of burrs and galls on it (these are growths caused by stress such as physical damage…
Continue reading Reciprocate
A close-up on the fascinating whorls and twists at the base of an ancient sweet chestnut trunk. When I first started this tree project, I knew that it could be huge, and so I set a limit on it. I would only consider trees that…
Continue reading Coalesce
This drawing includes the same beech trees featured in Epic, in a wider landscape and in a warmer season. While there is still a dramatic air to the picture, it is softer and seems appropriate for a fairy tale. The foreground suggests, to me, the…
Continue reading Babes in the Wood – SOLD