I love it here!!
Peace, woodland wildlife, gentle walks and, top of the list... cake!!! Yum! What's not to love? It's fabulous!
The Coombes is a deciduous woodland that sits neatly between the golf course at Bearwood and the village of Barkham. It covers quite a few acres (no idea how many, but it is quite a few!), has many veteran trees and is home to deer, foxes and all sorts of birds... and pigs!
The pigs actually belong to the Wysipigs farm (What You See Is Pig), but they are often allowed to wander about, rooting around amongst the bracken and snuffling round the yard by the farm shop.
A walk through the woods is most delightfully broken up by a steaming mug of coffee and a huge slab of cake at Wysipigs, served by the very funny and entertaining Mr Kevin!
In fact, it has to be said, it is so good up at the farm shop and so entertaining, that it is actually pretty difficult to muster up the motivation to leave!! Sitting out on the terrace with the dogs and watching the easy pace of the farm, sipping coffee, munching cake, chatting to my best pal, it's easy to imagine staying there for the rest of my life!!!
The walk back, once recommenced, however, is always a delight though.
I love the woods and the peace that trees always fill me with. I don't know if it's the roots that bind to the soil and hold life so safe and solid, or the fact that the branches seem to reach up to the sky and the air and space and breath beyond, but, whatever it is, trees calm me, restore my energy, strengthen me to carry on and to forget the nonsense, regrets, and disappointments of every day life!
Strange but true! Whenever I am away and feel homesick, I go and find a forest!
I heard only today that the government are looking to sell off 15% of Forestry Commission land to raise revenues. We must not allow that to happen! It'll be the death knell for the woods and the forests and, for me, I truly believe it will be the beginning of the end!
That may sound dramatic, but I live in an area that was once supposedly protected as Green Belt land. It didn't work. As soon as one development was allowed, that was it, the beginning of the end for the green belt. We cannot allow that to happen again!
I can't make anyone do anything, but together we have a voice.
If you believe in the power of the woods and you want to help, have a look at the Woodland Trust website and sign their petition. http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/Pages/default.aspx
In Scotland, there's a website that has links to all kinds of information and resources http://www.reforestingscotland.org/links.php
and in Wales, the Woodland Trust have a great information and resource site that may be very useful http://www.treeforall.org.uk/Wales/Facts/CampaigntoprotectWalestrees.htm
If you are in Northern Ireland, there is a website that not only supports the woodlands and forests, but also talks of protection for archaeological sites within the forests! Fantastic!! http://www.dardni.gov.uk/forestservice/index/environment/archaeological-features-in-the-forest.htm
Let's do what we can, as a nation, to come together and preserve our natural heritage. Our woodlands are so important, let's not lose them for the sake of a momentary monetary gain.
If we look after them properly, our woodlands will not only provide infinite monetary gain, but also spiritual and physical enrichment, for us and for our children and grandchildren and beyond! How can we do anything less?
On a final note, I'd like to applaud Wokingham Borough Council for the work that they do locally to protect and maintain our green spaces... but I must also say how much this sign makes me smile!!
It prohibits motor vehicles and horses and other nuisance from this 'open space' but, I have to say, that is the most densely planted open space I think I've ever seen!!! I heartily agree with the prohibitions, but still chuckle at the positioning! Hee hee!!
Rebecca, X
www.rtphotographics.co.uk
rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk
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