What one couple did – A diary of Long Wood
Heather Martin and Rodney Taylor acquired Long Wood in 2006, and during 2007 they kept a month-by-month diary of how they enjoyed and improved their woodland, and how it transformed their lives.
Heather fell in love with Long Wood.
Heather was hungry to know every detail about their new wood. First of all, every muddy track and tiny overgrown pathway. Then the seasonal changes of gales, torrential rain, sunshine, and the excitement in the spring of the gradually re-emerging shoots. And after that, she wanted to know the names of every plant, every tree, every moss and lichen and fungus. A Herculean task, but not impossible in a small woodland.
Rodney was desperate for fresh air and exercise.
Working unsociable hours in the bowels of a cross-channel ferry, Rodney needed to use his physical and his creative energy. With only a tiny garden, and great stretches of free time between his work commitments, his mind turned to forestry. Not commercial forestry with bulldozers and forwarders, but simple one-man operations, for which his training in engineering and his natural talent and inventiveness stood him in good stead.
Monthly Diary
Heather and Rodney's diary is available to download as PDF files in monthly installments.
