The first of Eynsham’s Nature Recovery Days on 16 February 2020 was memorable, not only for being the start of a new tradition of individuals, community groups and parish council coming together for nature recovery, but because a giggle of 30-odd volunteers went out to plant 200 saplings in the teeth of Storm Dennis. A year on, Eynsham’s Nature Recovery Days have diversified greatly, but we still find ourselves planting trees in a time of adversity – now a hedgerow around the Old Witney Road playground, this time by a relay of solo volunteers and 'bubbles' doing their green gym in the midst of the worst pandemic in living memory.
Given that Christmas 2020 was cancelled, the planet is choking, and the UK Government is greatly behind its target of planting 30000 hectares of new woodland by 2025, it seemed a good moment to reflect on trees – appearing reassuringly enduring, yet in reality extremely vulnerable and fragile. The result was ‘Trees of Life’, by Catriona Bass and Kevan Martin of Long Mead and 'Some thoughts on Ancient and Veteran trees' by Eynsham's resident tree guru, historical landscape specialist Sarah Couch.
Now, at no extra cost, we make these two illustrated essays available as downloadable PDFs. Read on!