I love trees, in fact I’m a bit of a tree hugger, so when Margaret @BooksPlease reviewed this book and I realised that my local library had it I thought I would give it a go. Apart from anything else I’m trying to read non-fiction in a more structured way instead of the dipping in and out of the books which I’ve often done in the past, it means I rarely finish the entire book, whatever the subject.

Anyway, I did enjoy this book but I only gave it a 3 on Goodreads, mainly because I felt that some of the chapters were probably there just because the publishers had asked for a book of about 400 pages, or however many words that translates into. There were some parts of the book which had very tenuous links to the woods, trees or nature, and those parts weren’t so interesting, to me anyway.

I learned quite a lot of interesting things though, such as the fact that those half-timbered English houses that I’m always taking photos of because they look as if they are about to fall down, have probably been as twisted as they are almost from the beginning of their ‘life’. Apparently they used green oak which twisted as it dried and made the structure stronger.

I now understand how walnut veneer is produced and why it is so expensive. The best place to see Green Man carvings seems to be Devon and willows grown in the south of England, particularly Essex and Suffolk are best for cricket bats, much to the disgust of the Australians.

An interesting snippet is the fact that Jarvis Cocker is the nephew of Joe Cocker, that was news to me and it gives you an idea of the eclectic nature of this book. Some artists who work with wood are mentioned, such as David Nash. Actually for some reason I could feel my ears go a bit pale when I read about some of his treatment of living wood to make his sculptures. I don’t know why the thought of him cutting most of the way through tree limbs and twisting them seems like a ghastly occupation to me but it does. On the other hand I don’t feel the same way about the same process being carried out by hedge-layers, in fact I would probably be quite happy to give that a go myself, and I’m very tender hearted when it comes to plants.

Anyway, as I said, I did enjoy this book, in parts. I’ve always fancied living in a cottage in a glade in a wee wood, just far enough away from trees so that there is no danger of being squashed by falling trees, and it sounds like Roger Deakin was lucky enough to live out this dream in his life. Sadly he died just before this book was published.

You can see some images of David Nash’s work here.

I didn’t know about the artist Mary Newcomb who is also mentioned, you can see some of her lovely work here.