I remember visiting my birth town of Sevenoaks not long after the Great Storm of 1987 when hurricane winds devastated many parts of Kent.
Trees came down, roofs, fences were lost and six of the seven oaks on Sevenoaks Vine Cricket Ground came down and made international headlines when the town was reduced to ‘Oneoaks’.

I drove around the haunts of my youth, up to Ide Hill and Toys Hill, high on the North Downs bordering Sir Winston Churchills home ‘Chartwell’. I had spent many happy weekends as a child with my parents and as a teenager with friends for Guitar gigging and general ‘chilling out’ on a Sunday afternoon. Lazy, hazy days!
Tears came to me very swiftly as I drove around; because of so many trees down, I saw views I’d never seen before and the scene reminded me of film and pictures I’d seen of WW1 where there were just stumps of trees, the tops being sheared off by battle.

As the weeks progressed, clearing up commenced and in some places new trees were planted.
However, looking back on it, the success’s were not in the re-planting, but where they had simply left the trees where they fell and let nature do it’s work.

The fallen woodland re-rooted and the old trees became havens for insects and other creatures to do their job in natural evolution. The new trees were helped along by their fallen parents composting into the soil.
Natures progression showed more power than any human intervention could muster. It’s ability to put things right on it’s own surely teaches us a lesson.

We are very lucky in this country to have the woodland we have, but it must be protected and ‘looked over’ with care. We must not go down the path of some peoples attitude in so far as ‘It’s not my problem, I’ll be long gone before…..etc.etc’

I’m lucky, there’s a smallish woodland area just down the lane and this supplies me with my needs of heat in the Rayburn through every winter.
Every year, trees die there, or are blown down by the wind. Yet it still yields enough for it’s own necessities and has sufficient spare to help others as well.

Maybe gas, electric central heating in a round about way has saved us from the disasters of countries like Nepal, where due to tourists needs of hot showers on their assisted walks to the high peaks can not go without their hot shower.

Albeit, the likes of Sir Edmund Hilary, his son and many others are doing monumential things there to improve this.

I love my little wood, I collect my needs and I find it a wonderful therapy for just thinking whilst foraging around for firewood.

Woodland has many ‘green’ values. It can supply us not only with it’s natural waste, but give us somewhere to go for solace and wellbeing.

See also Down the Lane Website Natures Free Gifts, a supplement showing some common fruits and vegetables we can gather from around us