Trees and Jubilees

Thank goodness January is over, I don’t know about you but I always find January one of the hardest months, The weather is cold and windy and walks are taken in the small window of daylight hours, as the temperature drops as soon as the sun goes down. February has the touch of a promise of warmer lighter days on the horizon. It can snow anytime until April here but February always gives me a sense of hope. 

There’s so much to look forward to and celebrate this year. Not only the Queens Jubilee, but also the Woodland Trust Celebrates 50 years of saving and preserving precious woodlands across the UK. 

In 1972 a group of friends gathered around a kitchen table in Devon to discuss saving a local wood. The kitchen table belonged to Kenneth Watkins OBE – their founder and first chairman – who was so concerned about loss of ancient woodland, he decided to do something about it. That day the Woodland Trust was born.   

As they turn 50, they are proud to have inspired 500,000 people from the UK and beyond to be a member or supporter of the Woodland Trust, to care for more than 1,000 free, public woods and have got more than 50 million trees growing. An incredible achievement to say the least. 

Trees are one of my favourite things, I even have a family tree in the Jubilee Woods planted to celebrate HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012. 
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January saw some of the worst storms the UK has had for a long time and the toll it has taken on trees is devastating. Whole woodlands have been brought down, trees that have stood for hundreds of years gone in an instant. The power of the weather is phenomenal. It makes this year's celebration all the more significant. To preserve and appreciate the ancient woodland we have, as they are the lungs of the earth and once, they are gone it takes hundreds of years to replace them. 

Whatever you do this February, maybe take a moment and go for a walk and just appreciate a tree you see on the way. 

Until next time, happy Perching. 

Ruth x 
 

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