My walk this week is from 2010 but the post title “Forest Formation” does not refer to the past of the trees so much as the rocky ridge feature near the footpath that I often like to sit on and soak up the atmosphere of the place. The formation of this rock feature will go back thousands, if not millions of years but although Britains forests can be traced back hundreds of millions of years, I suspect that neither the trees that make up this woodland now, nor their ancient ancestors, are the trees that were here when the landscape was more fully covered in forest.
But you can sense the ancient composition of the landscape under your feet in a place like this. Even if the footpath is relatively young – in geological terms, it’s practically non existent – the land on which it sits, along with the surrounding plants and the layers of dead leaves and pine needles, provides a context in which we humans feature in a very small way. And where we do not care for (perhaps I should say care about) these and all other natural environments, we will be the ones to loose out!
Beautiful photos! Thank you so much for reminding us to sense and appreciate the ancient composition of the landscape. We spend much effort to preserve old buildings and cathedrals, we should do the same for our natural environments. 🙂
Thank you. very much ❤️ We certainly need to understand and appreciate our interconnection with the natural world but in then greater scheme of things I suspect that it will take care of itself and come out on top. We are the ones that will lose out if we don’t respect it.
I agree, Alastair! We do need to appreciate our natural environment with respect! Thank you for the post. 🙂