Storm damage

Only just entering the bad weather season and the recent winds have already slighted another of Burley Old's veterans, a mighty one too, a huge three trunked beech that's now reduced to one trunk. It was only the other day, whilst walking through with a friend, I'd mentioned the growing holes in the canopy, one of those holes is significantly bigger now. It's a worry. Over the last 10 years I've seen these holes develop, and below them, in sharp contrast to the rest of the leaf litter floor, green oasis’s of grass, bracken and bramble thrive. Seeing how Burley Old is going puts me in mind of Bratley Woods with its open aspect, I imagine (and the hulks and stumps scattered about support the idea) that Bratley was once like Burley Old and that in years to come Burley Old will be like Bratley. The woodland really is a scene of weather wrought destruction, it's impossible now to walk a straight path through...which at one time you could have easily done.