All along the watchtower

Although the march of Autumn continues, the appearance of the Sun returned the woods to Summer, if only momentarily. The combination of the Sun and the recent rains have breathed new life into the land; everything was verdant green, from the trees and ferns down to every blade of grass and clump of moss. We took a while to rest at one of the increasingly rare 'shooting positions', once there were many all over the forest, nowadays they are few, most being dismantled as the methods employed in the management of Deer populations has changed; the Deer population has increased tremendously since annual culling ceased. Our elevated view through the trees aforded a different perspective on the woodland, tracks, which I beleive to be tanks training in the 1940's, can easily be traced crossing each other as they snake amongst the mature Oaks of Brinken Wood; a Red Deer sounds in the near distance before breaking cover and moments later disappears again amongst the jumble of fern and shrub, whilst the new meandering course of Warwickshade Cutting is clearly visible.