24 Sep. - Forest of Dean

 

Image: Felled and tagged log on a forest-road stack, awaiting collection.

A day of walking unfamiliar paths through unfamiliar trees - though their names resonate from tales on which we are reared - birch + beech, yew + spruce, hornbeam + holly, chestnut + rowan, Scots pine + oak - glorious oak - Quercus robur - the 'old men' of Dean - planted for warships + then, outdated, forgotten, but outliving their stewards. Oaks unexpected, in high-canopied vales, growing tall + straight to conical crowns - good timber indeed.

Among the trees, sculptures speaking of place + time - timber for mining, timber for rails + trains, timber as shelter for forest life, timber for industry, but also trees for their elegant, stately + silent beauty - 'Silenzio'. Under it all, the earth, the soil, born of rock + plant, sustainer of life - captured in impossible fidelity + scale with 'Echo' - a slice of the forest floor honoured in cold, smooth, metal.

Notes: The Beechenhurst Sculpture Trail is a most enjoyable introduction to the forest, but be sure to take one of the trail maps and keep your wits about you as some of the navigation is less than clear. That said, I seem to recall we found all the sculptures and enjoyed the diversity of inspiration and realisation from the various artists. We also liked that, sculptures notwithstanding, this is still a 'working' forest. We considered the stacks of recently felled and tagged timber to also be 'artworks'. (See image above.)