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What's through the oddly shaped windows? It looks like I'm peering through a Hobbits windows out on to the woods, in fact it's all that remains of the hulk of a formidable tree, hollowed by time and nature. Walking in the old enclosure I searched for some carved graffiti on ancient Beech's that I remember seeing, probably, some 20 years ago. What stuck with me at the time was the period from which this graffiti came, world war 2 and that both British and Americans were represented. The forest was extensively used by the military during both world wars; a small group of trenches, representing a section up to possibly a platoon, can be found on the edge of a plantation about 1km west and frequently vehicle tracks dating to the period can still be seen on some landscapes around the forest. 20 years has changed the face of many trees, some large leviathans (which I know had graffiti carved on them) had fallen and perished, while others had become covered in moss obscuring any detail. Growing despondent I finally found a tree with a hint of carving mostly hidden by moss.
All that remained visible were two 4's, although after peeling a small section of moss back you could just make out 1944, 65 years old; as I remember, there was more information to this carving. I'm reluctant to peel off too much moss as I try to have as little impact on the woods as I can, but my investigative streak is strong, so who knows. Sites like this, and I've found many around the county, get me wondering, what happened to these people? Did they survive the war? What were they doing there in the woods? Who are/were they? Always I hope they survived the war years and went on to have long and happy life's; here's hoping they've out lived their graffiti :o)
.JPG)
What's through the oddly shaped windows? It looks like I'm peering through a Hobbits windows out on to the woods, in fact it's all that remains of the hulk of a formidable tree, hollowed by time and nature. Walking in the old enclosure I searched for some carved graffiti on ancient Beech's that I remember seeing, probably, some 20 years ago. What stuck with me at the time was the period from which this graffiti came, world war 2 and that both British and Americans were represented. The forest was extensively used by the military during both world wars; a small group of trenches, representing a section up to possibly a platoon, can be found on the edge of a plantation about 1km west and frequently vehicle tracks dating to the period can still be seen on some landscapes around the forest. 20 years has changed the face of many trees, some large leviathans (which I know had graffiti carved on them) had fallen and perished, while others had become covered in moss obscuring any detail. Growing despondent I finally found a tree with a hint of carving mostly hidden by moss.
All that remained visible were two 4's, although after peeling a small section of moss back you could just make out 1944, 65 years old; as I remember, there was more information to this carving. I'm reluctant to peel off too much moss as I try to have as little impact on the woods as I can, but my investigative streak is strong, so who knows. Sites like this, and I've found many around the county, get me wondering, what happened to these people? Did they survive the war? What were they doing there in the woods? Who are/were they? Always I hope they survived the war years and went on to have long and happy life's; here's hoping they've out lived their graffiti :o)
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