We're desperately short of high woodland. Nothing lower down quite matches it. And the best of it is on Blacka where you can still walk on paths minimally managed among trees that are not the result of human decisions. That is a prime commodity, as close to self determined nature as we might get and it teems with wildlife.
This strikes against the insistent dogma of those who constantly and publicly espouse the virtues of open landscapes. Whenever that word open is used it is a calculated shot fired against the obvious desire of people to have some landscapes where nature is not exploited or controlled. Managers love to exaggerate the appeal of treeless land. They talk about the empty moors as if they are essential to the character of the district. Never has there been a time in the past when the character of our whole landscape has been set in stone by people sitting around a table in offices and committee rooms. Not even one hill can escape. Control is everything.
The woods can sing of course.
Not this song but for some reason it keeps coming to mind.
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