Ridley Wood

Ridley Wood is one of the wilder patches of woodland in the forest, the wood is ancient, coppiced from the 1500's until 1698 when the practice of coppicing and pollarding Beech and Oak was forbidden in the forest to safeguard timber for the navy. The remnants of these once managed trees and their irregular inclosures can be seen throughout the wood. Set on an exposed knoll on the edge of Ridley Plain and surrounded by open, wet and wild heathland, it is subject to the full measure of the elements and bears the scars of countless encounters. The walking is wet underfoot and hard going, obstacles frequently block the way, the decaying hulks of long fallen leviathans. Where fallen trunks have opened the canopy, regeneration has been swift, with self seeded Beech, Holly and Birch leading the assault with the occasional smatterings of Oak. I should imagine a night walk in these woods would be fraught with unseen noises, sinister shadows and eerie spectors only seen in the peripheral vision; even in daylight on a grey and windy day, the bare canopy sways violently creating a plethora of squeaks, creaks and strange sounds, whilst the winds also swirl through the understory filling the stands and shrubs with movement.