A walk through Tanglewood

This is a spot of land I come back to again and again throughout my life. My father's parents bought the wood in the late 1930's when they wanted to build their own house. They were living in Croydon on the outskirts of London and dreamed of living in the countryside. The second World War was looming, it would also be a safer place to bring up their three boys.

When the house was sold in the 1960s they kept back one third of the land. It is ancient woodland. My father passed it on to me a few years ago. The part closest to the road is Hornbeam coppice that has been let grow and the back of the wood is oak, ash and hazel. In the spring it is becomes carpeted with white anemones and then drifts of bluebells. During lockdown I used to walk there from the local railway station to spend time sinking into the natural world. Here you can see the wood in winter and spring.