We explore how trees have entwined themselves in our culture . . . (photo Hugh Dunford Wood)
"As the author Robert Pogue Harrison points out, forests are outside the ambit of civilisation: places of enigma and paradox; places of profanity but also sacred; places of lawlessness but
also natural justice; places of danger and abandonment but also enchantment and recovery. So a wood is a fine place to embark on a journey of discovery.
Something enchanting happens when we step into the dappled shade of a wood; we feel an intimate kind of magic under the canopy of leaves and branches. And when we climb trees our perspective changes, literally and metaphorically: a different view brings with it a different mood, a different feeling.
When a character in a story enters a wood, they will seldom emerge unchanged. Some acquire wisdom, some gain power, others are lost or found. Our woods offer an
alternative arena in which we can play out our human dramas."
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