"I'm lost in a forest, all alone..."

Decided to spend a sunny Sunday doing a lonely walk from one of those "short walk" books - a circular route that takes in the Falls of Leny, near Callander. I've always loved woodlands, found them to be the place that I feel most at peace. Setting off I found myself walking alongside a lovely natural oak woodland, with beautiful, spaced oaks, birches and alders festooned with mosses and lichens. After wondering off-path to get a better look at the river and the Falls of Leny, I followed small desire lines and deer tracks to wander through the woods.

There was no-one else there, despite the cycle path at the top of the hill and the road on the other side of the river. I felt more at peace than I have for a long time. No-one talking to me, or feeling that I have to talk to someone. Perhaps we all need to head into the woods, lose ourselves in them, feel at peace.

Maybe its today with our descent from arboreal primates? Maybe its the comfort of being relatively hidden from those outside of the woodland? Who knows. All I know is that I wandered around, completely immersed in the woods, and saw no-one else who had ventured off-path. I came across a stout, squat oak with an almost open-grown quality to it. I climbed up to the top, slipping a bit on the luxuriant moss, and then just hung around in the canopy for a while, enjoying the different perspective on the world. I felt completely hidden from view up there, away from the world and its pressures.

A natural archway, formed by a young ash. No idea what caused it.

I know it won't work for everyone - other people have their own special places, whether up mountains, on beaches, or in great cathedrals. But for me, that oakwood helped me escape from everything going on for a couple of blissful, lonely hours.

Grizedale archway

One of the many wood-based sculptures at the Forestry Commission's Grizedale site in Cumbria.

I love this one. An upside down section of larch, using the tree's natural form and growth habit to make an interesting archway. It's simple, it's elegant, and it's natural, all one piece of timber. Beautiful.

Mr Motivator?

My current job is one as a warden of primarily urban 'community woodlands' in some quite deprived and socially isolated parts of Glasgow. Anyone else involved in urban conservation or forestry will identify immediately with the antisocial behaviour this attracts.

By maintaining woodlands in areas with high levels of crime, drug use and anti-social behaviour, it really is quite fair to say that we are creating the perfect place for people to behave irresponsibly. Woods by their very nature are quite hidden, secretive and easy to disappear into - step in a few rows, and people will walk past without noticing anyone is in the trees. And so, in the woods I work in (and doubtless many others in urban areas up and down the country), it's normal, expected even to find fly tipping, fires, people burning plastic off copper wiring, trees hacked down through mindless vandalism, and used syringes. Nice.

How does one keep motivated doing these jobs? Sometimes, it feels like an uphill struggle, like you're battering your head off a brick wall. Time after time, filling a van with rubbish weekly, tidying up after people who can't be bothered to carry that bottle or crisp packet back to their house. Or the people who, instead of leaving their rubbish on the kerb right outside their door (where the council will lift it for free), they spend energy pulling it into our woods, generally ripping the bags in the process, and we then spend our time pulling it all out again. I picked up six bags worth of fly tipping at the entrance to one woodland the other day - someone was clearing out old clothes, birthday cards and other childhood memorabilia, and decided that just behind the entrance wall was the perfect place for it to go. Cheers buddy.

I can't help but get angry, want to sack it all in and say a big f*** you to the people in these communities. We try and maintain positive, accessible and interesting green spaces right next to people's houses, and all we ask in return is a bit of respect. But then they get abused, degraded. The woven hazel fence I posted about below has now been ripped apart by kids, who obviously felt offended that I'd put time and effort into creating an interesting structure.

I see the other side of the argument - I really do. I understand that the majority of people do appreciate accessible green space in their area. I know that what we do is ultimately improving peoples' lives, and we're possibly inspiring future conservationists and naturalists with every school group we take out.We do get the odd positive comment from people walking through, glad to see us out there doing work (one nice lady even brought me a soft drink from her house whilst I was strimming on a hot day - very much appreciated!). But, unfortunately, for the people on the ground working on these kind of sites, we mainly only see the aftermath of that minority that see the woods as a place to drink in, shoot up in, ditch their rubbish in, do illegal activities in, and vandalise trees or features in. We spend our time seeing it, dealing with it, tidying it up knowing that come the next week, there'll be the same issues all over again. That's when I find it difficult to get up each morning, head out to these sites, and keep motivated to do what I do, no matter how much a manager or a politician in an office maintains that we're a positive force for society.