The illustrated tree

I visited that venerable inhabitant of Pinnick Wood this afternoon, the Illustrated Tree.  The gnarliest of gnarly trees, the Illustrated Tree (my name for it) is a stunted ancient Oak from which all of the bark is long gone, revealing its patterned core beneath. Every inch of wood is covered in rich textures as if intricately carved. It really is a wonder. Walking through Pinnick Wood it strikes me as to how profoundly the emergence of Alabama Rot (idiopathic cutaneous and renal glomerular vasculopathy) and my subsequent fear of it affected where we walked in the forest.  A confirmed case meant that area was struck off the walking roster. The earliest cases were in the north of the forest and as a consequence we didn't walk the forest above the A31 after 2012. Pinnick is north of the A31. Pinnick had always been particular favourite roam of ours we'd often start at Pickets post, then out across the open heath of Handy Cross Plain with it's fantastic views, before disappearing under the canopy of the ancient and never enclosed Pinnick Wood. Walking there again today bathed in autumnal sun it was easy to see why it was a favourite. It's a wood with so much age and character, it's beautiful, timeless.