NEWS

 

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August 14, 2018: 

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Many walkers in Mag Wood have worried recently about the prolonged heatwave and its effect on the trees.

 

It's true the woodland soil has rarely been drier, and many trees have done that 'false autumn' thing of dropping a few thousand leaves to prevent transpiration and preserve what little water there is available for their roots. But overall, I don't think there's anything major to worry about: trees have been around many millions more years than we have, and they've seen heatwaves worse than this before. 

 

THE GOOD AND THE BAD

For the last 20-plus years, one of my great delights has been walking in Mag Wood, in all weathers and every season.  On almost every walk I meet people who feel the same way as I do - that Mag Wood is a beautiful, peaceful and useful place to have on our doorsteps. 

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But occasionally, not everything in the garden (or wood) is lovely.  I met a dog walker recently who told me he'd been nearly run over by quad bikers using Old Spring Wood and Mag Wood as a racetrack. When he asked them to be careful while riding in the woods (which they shouldn't be doing anyway) they got off their bikes and threatened him.

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Not so long ago a Staffie-type dog rushed up to me and nearly bowled me over. That in itself is no bad thing, though I would have felt differently if the paths were wet and muddy and the dog had dirtied my clothes. So I asked its owner to call the dog back - and was immediately threatened with obscenities and a 'nutting'. The dog's a brown and white pup and its owner is thin, dark-haired, unshaven and wild-eyed. It might be an idea to keep out of his way.

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NETHERTON MOOR housing development: we're keeping an eye on this. 240 new homes next door to Mag Wood is no trivial matter. The effect on the woodland is likely to be significant. Added to this is  a proposal to convert part of Brooke's Mill into 48 one and two bed dwellings, with an access road that will run close to our woods. This too is being monitored.

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