This is one of my latest drawings of what I can only assume is an oak, in a delightful field in Great Chalfield. It stands as part of an avenue of sturdy mature oaks that punctuate the grass in a strait line from one gate to the next. It’s a 25 minuet walk from my home. I discovered it in high summer when the air was full of insects and the cool shade of the trees made a dappled, fairy tail tunnel into another world. I went back in late Autumn to catch the trees without their clothes on. A Tree Creeper, seemingly oblivious to me was industriously hunting the crevices for a meal. On another walk there, just before the gate to the field, I came face to face with a muntjac deer crossing the road, he and I both pedestrians for a moment, both heading into different fields. Other walks in that direction have resulted in encounters with a young grass snake, a beautiful brown hare and a kingfisher. All practically on my door step and there for all to see if you know how to look.
Jacqueline Byrne 