Down and out

Walking through Burley Old this morning I saw that another four ancient/veteran beech trees have been taken out by this weekend's strong winds. Bummer, man. Each tree downed means another, or bigger, hole in the canopy, which in turn creates a weak point and another opportunity for destructive winds to get amongst the stands and wreak havoc. I've seen the number of trees slighted by the elements increase throughout the forest in recent years, although the destruction wrought is nowhere more apparent than here in Burley Old and out in Bratley Wood. In both Burley Old and Bratley the extent of the damage and the changes in the nature of the spaces caused are striking. Parts of Burley Old's floor are now becoming congested with debris, a tangle of trunk and bough, you can't take a straight course through the wood any more. It can sometimes be bitter sweet walking though the stands. Of course, it could merely be that since the forestry stopped removing fallen wood, that destruction has become more noticeable, whereas it occurred previously though because of removal was  invisible. I know everything changes and it's natural for trees to topple and new ones take their places, although there's a worrying lack of samplings coming up to replace the fallen. A huge increase in the populations of deer and pony over the last 20 years have led to over grazing on a now destructive level, where it's not just the samplings being eaten but also an increase in beech and holly bark being stripped, sometimes in the case of beech, to fatal consequences. I fear for the forests future.