Roe

The day didn't start like this, in fact for the first nearly 8 miles of our walk (15 miler in total) the sky was grey and overcast, though by the time we'd reached Roe enclosure the clouds had broken and sunlight began to flood the stands. Lovely. Roe's another of the forest’s older enclosures with it's nucleus dating from 1700 (later expanded in 1811); many of the enclosure's original trees have long gone, replaced by tall coniferous stands themselves now marked for harvesting. Following some of Roe's lesser walked paths my mind flooded with memories of previous wanderings here; the main tracks are great for covering distance at speed, and yeah you can see some lovely forest from them, but you can't beat the smaller, more obscure, ephemeral paths, they're the ones that allow a more intimate connection, the ones that get the synapses sparking. As I walked a particular path I fondly recalled walks with friends some 30 years ago, and later ones with my children; and of other paths in Roe I'd like to walk again...if I can find them, if they're still there. I did say that some were ephemeral, and maybe now they're only walk-able through my memories.