As the trees began to pack away their leaves in earnest, it was time for an end-of-season clear-out at Hazel Hill Wood.
For a natural site, we’ve been accumulating a surprisingly large amount of plastic. Mainly tree tubes, but also fencing, insulation and construction materials. Almost all of these objects are the result of not having an end-of-life plan for the things we bring into the wood.
So today we cleared away the old tree tubes, fencing and insulation into a skip. Of course, this means we’ve shipped our problem off to a magical ‘away’ somewhere else. Sadly, for these crumbling bits of plastic, we don’t really have much choice. But our intention is to think much more carefully before we bring these materials onto the site again in the future.
Clearing out creates space for new growth. Today we enjoyed simply seeing the space we’d created. With the junk removed, we could begin to imagine new possibilities: reconfigured workshop spaces for woodland skills and timber construction, where we can develop the skills and capacity to keep renewing the infrastructure at Hazel Hill Wood.
Ultimately, we want to be able to make and repair what we need using more of the materials from the Wood itself. In doing so we deepen our connection with the living world and create renewal for people too.