Bramble Hill

The rays of the Sun may still be weak, the Sun only at the beginning of its journey towards us and summer, nevertheless its meager warmth is welcomed and appreciated, taking the chill of a deceptively cold breeze. Leaf devils twist and swirl, dancing through the stands, myriads of small brown tornadoes amongst the trunks; a riot of movement and sound bring the woods alive. Nearby Holidays Hill Enclosure is bathed in winter brightness; one of the oldest enclosures in the forest, its original timber long since removed, now the bounds contain evergreens of various type, size and age. Climbing Bramble Hill we return to ancient unenclosed forest, grande dame Beeches, pollarded in the distant past, spread their many boughed crowns to the azure sky above, surrounded by self seeded younger kin.