Posted: Friday 12th June 2015 by 30DaysWild2015
Meadow on Uncllys Farm
Joining a group of Wildlife Trust members deep in the Wyre forest provides a thoughtful end to the day.
"There is no wealth but life ..." "Beautiful, Peaceful and Fruitful".
For day 11 of this 'challenge' Gill and I headed out to join over 30 other members of the Wildlife Trust for an evening deep in the Wyre Forest. I can't copy an aerial photo of the area but if you search for Uncllys Farm and look at a "well known on-line mapping service" you will see quite how remote and deep in the forest the farm is. John Iles lives in the farm and gave us a guided walk around the meadows and woodland which make up the holding in the forest. The forest, away from the very busy visitor centre, always has a very profound effect on me, a feeling with it's roots in reading Norman Hickin's books: The Natural History of an English Forest and Wyre Forest Refreshed. To say the pages of my copy of the former are 'yellowing' is a grave insult to yellow! I guess this contributed to me joining the Trust 30+ years ago.
Uncllys Farm is owned by The Guild of St George and is run and managed on the principles established by John Ruskin. The more I read and hear about Ruskin the more complex a character he becomes but there can be little doubt that his vision, in this case, of establishing a community living at one with nature and providing an environment and lifestyle that should be: "beautiful, peaceful and fruitful" connects directly with me and many of those on the walk last night.
We only walked a short distance but took an hour and a half to do so, stopping and standing or sitting in some of the most beautiful spots. I could write about how John is managing the woods and meadows in the forest but there is too much to say. Simply we came away refreshed by our connection to one of the most beautiful natural places in England.
Part of the experience was a shared one but it really did not seem appropriate to take photos of other people, it was not fair to intrude on their quiet enjoyment of the forest.
There is no wealth but life.
John Ruskin
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