Such fabulous art and I reckon that, though it may feel as if you’ve lost your way, it’s actually setting out a path for you…a trail to follow.
I was thinking about what you said, how we feel about woods and the sensations they awaken. We are so lucky to have a very special woodland within walking distance of our gate and reached by a green lane, which we’ve walked for thirty years, and I have to say it now feels like the most benevolent, cathedral-like space. We know every inch, every tree and every season and perhaps the advantage is its seclusion. It would be rare to meet anyone else there and if we did we’d know them. In particular I love what we call the pixie pools…those hollows in the base where water collects. The dogs know exactly where they are too.
How wonderful to have such a patch on your doorstep that you know so intimately. I hope to return to Wayland through the seasons, but I am especially looking forward to spring when it is bathed in bluebells and archangel. My visit was on an especially dark day and it made the myth seem slightly more probable! I wish I could feel more comfortable painting in woodland and often wish I had a Spider, like Arthur Kipps, to keep me company!
Isn't Singled Out marvellous? I read it several years ago but it has stayed with me. I particularly remember the Universal Aunts and yes, so many went in to have such valuable lives.
The more often you go the better and to follow the seasons there too…that’s a project in itself. It’s going to look splendid when the bluebells are out and I can’t wait to see what you paint. That will be the moment to read Robert Macfarlane’s ‘Bluebell’ from The Lost Words and listen to Kerry Andrew’s singing her version.
Such a lovely post, I wanted to chat about so much in it! Wayland's Wood made me think of Wayland's Smithy, the atmospheric long barrow off the Ridgeway in Oxfordshire, linked to Wayland, Saxon god of metalworking and mythic smith who will shoe your horse overnight if you leave it at the 'smithy'. I wonder if there is a connection?
There is something about woods that can be very contrary, I think - green, leafy and welcoming, but at the same time drear and a bit threatening when they're quiet. Deciduous woodland particularly shape-shifts through the seasons, and is scarcely the same place twice.
I was interested to see how at the moment you seem to be drawing twisted, gnarly trees - is that because that's what you see, or do you seek them out? I loved the prints of single leaves - they would be wonderful in unexpected colours...
And fungi! This time of the years is such a wonderful time to see them. I am just the same - constantly bending down, taking photographs, looking them up etc. I dont know how anyone can just walk past them!
I would love to visit Wayland Smithy and there must be a connection perhaps in the origin of the word? It has sent me down a rabbit hole of English folklore and it is fascinating. I ended up ordered two books which arrived today. ( I never can resist!)
I must admit I do like drawings trees that are old and gnarled best. When they are green and leafy, not so much! We gave some wonderful old oaks locally and I never tire of drawing them.
The fungi has been late this year as it was so dry earlier in the season. I was astounded at every turn by what I saw at the wood. I kept squeaking with delight!
Lolly Willowes is wonderful. You are in for a real treat!
I’m sure I’ve just read about Wayland Smithy in Amy Jeffs’ book Storyland. I’ve been to Iceland since I read it so I might be muddling my books and myths a bit but aren’t all these connections amazing.
I shall seek out the song of "Bluebell"- thank you! I have been secondhand book shop visiting when it rains and found a copy of Amy Jeff's Storyland and it does contain the story of Wayland Smithy, so more treats ahead!
I think it’s on the Lost Words album. We first heard it when Kerry premiered it at The Foundling Museum for Rob’s launch of the book and were blown away. Good Storyland find! I’ve come across more about Weland the Smith this evening in an Anglo-Saxon anthology. Isn’t it odd how a name suddenly pops up everywhere.
Wayland is such an uncommon name, and when I saw it, I too made the connection to Wayland’s Smithy. A friend at the time brought me to visit in 2016-17, and it has stayed with me and created a nice lure into the heart of this post by Deborah Vass this morning.
I have looked up the name as I was curious. The Old English derivation is " land by the road" and in Old Norse it is "sacred grove". A place I must visit!
This is a fine story Deborah. That sense of apprehension when in woods on my own is something that I do consider, but (perhaps unwisely) I feel I can put aside in the wood I'm most familiar with (the place where I kept the journal you've seen), but when reading your notes I was reminded of @francesray's post on here from the US, 'An Evening Visitor' (I can't sem to share the link?) where the woods near her home might lead her to an encounter with a bear - an altogether different proposition to a stroll in our UK woods!
How wonderful that you saw a hare, and that lovely town sign with the hare leaping over the barrel! Those poor little children - such a sad tale; do you know the haunting version of the song of Babes in the Wood by Tim Hart and Maddy Prior? These babes aren't murdered but just seem to get lost in the woods, and die but the robin turns up to do his work with the leaves here too, tragic! Here's a link https://youtu.be/3JUzTY4g2hk?si=ofHbrl9Y353UV5rs And thank you for the link to Charlie Cooper's Myth Country, This Country was so good, so I just watched Black Shuck, very entertaining!
I do hope you find that spark soon, I know that stuck place too.
Thank you very much for the link to Maddy Prior, I didn't know of it's existence and her voice is so pure and beautiful.
I am away in the Peak District, it is such a different landscape and so beautiful. It is rather overwhelming! I shall only just begin to get to grips with it and it will be time to leave! It is much more open and I feel very comfortable here. At home, I feel completely at ease when walking, but sitting, with my kit speed about me, I am less so as I know that when I get absorbed, I lose all sense of what is around me.
Isn't Myth Country marvellous? I am trying to eke the episodes out!
Thanks so much for this Deborah. As we approach what I think of as MR James season I have bookmarked those podcasts and they will accompany future carving sessions.
Ooh thank you for this rich post, the inspiration and life in native woodland and also the unsettled wariness that comes - those fairytales were told for many reasons. Also love your drawings 🌿
Singled Out is such a good read, sad in so many ways too.
I always think that my generation of women in particular , born in the 1950s, benefited from those women and those of WWII as well, and their single-dom, because so many of them were our school teachers. Yes, there were some oddballs but they taught us thoroughly and well and I am always grateful for the grounding they gave us….though I’m not sure I always appreciated it at the time!
The drawings are wonderful, and I appreciate your telling of this myth-riddled woods. I'm going to look into the books you've suggested as well, thank you!
Thank you, Deborah, such an interesting read as always. Maybe not your intention :) but quite Halloween appropriate.
I agree with you about drawing in the woods. I have the exact same feeling - I can’t seem to relax completely and be absorbed in my work. It’s probably also due to the fact that forest sounds have become unfamiliar to us and anything can cause anxiety…
But your drawings are beautiful and I hope that you will find the spark you’re looking for over next couple of weeks!
It was quite incidental until I had been to the wood and realized the date of Halloween was close by! I think you are right, we are now so unaccustomed to that environment that every sound makes me alert. I find I never quite relax and wish that I could as I love drawing among trees more than any other place. Thank you very much for reading it and I am so pleased you liked it.
What a fascinating read, especially the contrary ideas we have of woodland being a place to be wary of (the deep dark wood) & a place of sanctuary. I love the Pete Bellamy folk song too.
I lived in the UK from 1999-2020 and loved dearly its woodlands and wild places. You have captured the heartbeat of the woodlands experience here in a way uniquely your own and yet reminding me of Robert Macfarlane, and I loved reading every word. I was divorced in 2010 and have remained single, consequently, much of my time in the woods was similarly alone and I recognize the tension between heightened alert to sounds and the temptation to become fully absorbed in the moss and the trees. Your drawings are exquisite—I especially love the gnarliness and feel that I can see the living tree in it.
I am currently on holiday in the Peak District and I don't think I could have chosen a more beautiful time to visit woodland. I have made some drawings, but I have kept out in the open, and I have barely seen a soul. I wish I could stay longer!
I really enjoyed this post and seeing your drawings, there is definitely something mysterious about woodlands isn’t there? We have one at the end of our road, and it’s not unusual to have the feeling of being watched there, and to stumble upon patches of eerie, unexplained stillness. Aside from the mystery though, they are wonderful habitats full of life and inspiration. Thanks for sharing the stories, I really did enjoy them 😊
My reply seems to have been lost, and I have just noticed, I am sorry! I am staying in the Peak District and, oh my goodness, it is heaven! I don't want to come home...
I love your tree studies Deborah, they’re so beautiful.
I’ve always wanted to live in a wood, though I do wonder if I would find it unnerving?
I read Lolly Willowes for the first time a couple of years ago and loved it! I’ve just finished Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers which I thought was great, and also Small Bomb at Dimperly (can’t remember the writers name!) which is hilarious, and a great read. I too can’t find much to match up to them so far and am still on the search for new books.
Thank you very much, Cally. I feel the same about being in the woods but I am not sure I would want to live alone there. Have you read Neil Ansell's Deep Country? I loved it but his life was not for the faint hearted. I have noted both books, thank you!
I love your drawings of the trees! Woodlands have always felt magical to me, all those childhood stories set in the forest. I watched the Charlie Cooper Myths because I loved This Country so much!
Did you ever watch the Detectorists? Another gem of a series.☺️🌿
The Detectorists is my absolute favourite. It was filmed where I used to teach, in Framingham, but I never managed to be free when they were filming! Thank you very much and so pleased you liked the drawings, I hope to do more this week!
The woods are full of mystery and there is often a feeling of danger or dread associated with it, especially at night. Would we want to be lost in the woods in the dark? I think not.
Yet, the woods in the daylight are another matter. I do find trees fascinating, and if there are trees, birds are nearby. As might be squirrels, chipmunks and other furry animals.
As for these times, I find them unsettling. There is a feeling of dread and foreboding and I say this sitting in my living room. This does not mean love and beauty are absent. No, they are present, but there are also darker forces at work. I sense many feel it and can't shake that feeling.
Sadly, Perry, I think you are right. What is happening does makes us feel more aware of danger. I simply find it incredulous that he may be reelected...But woodland is still a place of solace and beauty. The wood I describe is thousands of years old and I draw great comfort from that.
Thank you very much. It was a magical moment, it was just a few feet away. I loooked it up as I vaguely though it was symbolic of something and apparently, "a sign of good luck and a reminder to stay agile and adaptable". I hope the first is true and the second a very timely reminder!
Everything this past week has been centred on trees; I have been doing some rewriting on a story I wrote and this has trees in it, I am reading with much delight Richard Shimell's book Winter Trees, He is a print maker and his tree prints are striking and very beautiful. I am away next week staying in Sussex where I remember my mother always talking about Chanctonbury Ring which I believe is somewhere on the downs above Chichester so I hope to get there if my knees will stand up to the walk! My mother said she used to like to walk there from the teacher training college at Bishop Otter in Chichester. I too love trees.
Such fabulous art and I reckon that, though it may feel as if you’ve lost your way, it’s actually setting out a path for you…a trail to follow.
I was thinking about what you said, how we feel about woods and the sensations they awaken. We are so lucky to have a very special woodland within walking distance of our gate and reached by a green lane, which we’ve walked for thirty years, and I have to say it now feels like the most benevolent, cathedral-like space. We know every inch, every tree and every season and perhaps the advantage is its seclusion. It would be rare to meet anyone else there and if we did we’d know them. In particular I love what we call the pixie pools…those hollows in the base where water collects. The dogs know exactly where they are too.
How wonderful to have such a patch on your doorstep that you know so intimately. I hope to return to Wayland through the seasons, but I am especially looking forward to spring when it is bathed in bluebells and archangel. My visit was on an especially dark day and it made the myth seem slightly more probable! I wish I could feel more comfortable painting in woodland and often wish I had a Spider, like Arthur Kipps, to keep me company!
Isn't Singled Out marvellous? I read it several years ago but it has stayed with me. I particularly remember the Universal Aunts and yes, so many went in to have such valuable lives.
The more often you go the better and to follow the seasons there too…that’s a project in itself. It’s going to look splendid when the bluebells are out and I can’t wait to see what you paint. That will be the moment to read Robert Macfarlane’s ‘Bluebell’ from The Lost Words and listen to Kerry Andrew’s singing her version.
Such a lovely post, I wanted to chat about so much in it! Wayland's Wood made me think of Wayland's Smithy, the atmospheric long barrow off the Ridgeway in Oxfordshire, linked to Wayland, Saxon god of metalworking and mythic smith who will shoe your horse overnight if you leave it at the 'smithy'. I wonder if there is a connection?
There is something about woods that can be very contrary, I think - green, leafy and welcoming, but at the same time drear and a bit threatening when they're quiet. Deciduous woodland particularly shape-shifts through the seasons, and is scarcely the same place twice.
I was interested to see how at the moment you seem to be drawing twisted, gnarly trees - is that because that's what you see, or do you seek them out? I loved the prints of single leaves - they would be wonderful in unexpected colours...
And fungi! This time of the years is such a wonderful time to see them. I am just the same - constantly bending down, taking photographs, looking them up etc. I dont know how anyone can just walk past them!
I would love to visit Wayland Smithy and there must be a connection perhaps in the origin of the word? It has sent me down a rabbit hole of English folklore and it is fascinating. I ended up ordered two books which arrived today. ( I never can resist!)
I must admit I do like drawings trees that are old and gnarled best. When they are green and leafy, not so much! We gave some wonderful old oaks locally and I never tire of drawing them.
The fungi has been late this year as it was so dry earlier in the season. I was astounded at every turn by what I saw at the wood. I kept squeaking with delight!
Lolly Willowes is wonderful. You are in for a real treat!
I’m sure I’ve just read about Wayland Smithy in Amy Jeffs’ book Storyland. I’ve been to Iceland since I read it so I might be muddling my books and myths a bit but aren’t all these connections amazing.
I shall seek out the song of "Bluebell"- thank you! I have been secondhand book shop visiting when it rains and found a copy of Amy Jeff's Storyland and it does contain the story of Wayland Smithy, so more treats ahead!
I think it’s on the Lost Words album. We first heard it when Kerry premiered it at The Foundling Museum for Rob’s launch of the book and were blown away. Good Storyland find! I’ve come across more about Weland the Smith this evening in an Anglo-Saxon anthology. Isn’t it odd how a name suddenly pops up everywhere.
I must read Amy Jeff's. I heard a wonderful interview with her and the books are so beautiful. I am sure you are right!
I checked and yes, there’s a wonderful chapter in Storyland, Weland the Smith.
Wayland is such an uncommon name, and when I saw it, I too made the connection to Wayland’s Smithy. A friend at the time brought me to visit in 2016-17, and it has stayed with me and created a nice lure into the heart of this post by Deborah Vass this morning.
I have looked up the name as I was curious. The Old English derivation is " land by the road" and in Old Norse it is "sacred grove". A place I must visit!
This is a fine story Deborah. That sense of apprehension when in woods on my own is something that I do consider, but (perhaps unwisely) I feel I can put aside in the wood I'm most familiar with (the place where I kept the journal you've seen), but when reading your notes I was reminded of @francesray's post on here from the US, 'An Evening Visitor' (I can't sem to share the link?) where the woods near her home might lead her to an encounter with a bear - an altogether different proposition to a stroll in our UK woods!
How wonderful that you saw a hare, and that lovely town sign with the hare leaping over the barrel! Those poor little children - such a sad tale; do you know the haunting version of the song of Babes in the Wood by Tim Hart and Maddy Prior? These babes aren't murdered but just seem to get lost in the woods, and die but the robin turns up to do his work with the leaves here too, tragic! Here's a link https://youtu.be/3JUzTY4g2hk?si=ofHbrl9Y353UV5rs And thank you for the link to Charlie Cooper's Myth Country, This Country was so good, so I just watched Black Shuck, very entertaining!
I do hope you find that spark soon, I know that stuck place too.
Thank you very much for the link to Maddy Prior, I didn't know of it's existence and her voice is so pure and beautiful.
I am away in the Peak District, it is such a different landscape and so beautiful. It is rather overwhelming! I shall only just begin to get to grips with it and it will be time to leave! It is much more open and I feel very comfortable here. At home, I feel completely at ease when walking, but sitting, with my kit speed about me, I am less so as I know that when I get absorbed, I lose all sense of what is around me.
Isn't Myth Country marvellous? I am trying to eke the episodes out!
I had forgotten this version, thank you for the link 😊
Thanks so much for this Deborah. As we approach what I think of as MR James season I have bookmarked those podcasts and they will accompany future carving sessions.
They were a very jolly find and are perfect for carving listening!
Ooh thank you for this rich post, the inspiration and life in native woodland and also the unsettled wariness that comes - those fairytales were told for many reasons. Also love your drawings 🌿
Thank you very much, Marika. I am so pleased you liked it and especially the drawings. I always feel very nervous before posting.
Singled Out is such a good read, sad in so many ways too.
I always think that my generation of women in particular , born in the 1950s, benefited from those women and those of WWII as well, and their single-dom, because so many of them were our school teachers. Yes, there were some oddballs but they taught us thoroughly and well and I am always grateful for the grounding they gave us….though I’m not sure I always appreciated it at the time!
The drawings are wonderful, and I appreciate your telling of this myth-riddled woods. I'm going to look into the books you've suggested as well, thank you!
Thank you very much! I highly Recommend Lolly Willowes - do let me know what you think!
Thank you, Deborah, such an interesting read as always. Maybe not your intention :) but quite Halloween appropriate.
I agree with you about drawing in the woods. I have the exact same feeling - I can’t seem to relax completely and be absorbed in my work. It’s probably also due to the fact that forest sounds have become unfamiliar to us and anything can cause anxiety…
But your drawings are beautiful and I hope that you will find the spark you’re looking for over next couple of weeks!
It was quite incidental until I had been to the wood and realized the date of Halloween was close by! I think you are right, we are now so unaccustomed to that environment that every sound makes me alert. I find I never quite relax and wish that I could as I love drawing among trees more than any other place. Thank you very much for reading it and I am so pleased you liked it.
What a fascinating read, especially the contrary ideas we have of woodland being a place to be wary of (the deep dark wood) & a place of sanctuary. I love the Pete Bellamy folk song too.
Thank you very much, Nick, Isn't the song wonderful? I suddenly remembered it as I was writing and am glad you enjoyed it too.
I lived in the UK from 1999-2020 and loved dearly its woodlands and wild places. You have captured the heartbeat of the woodlands experience here in a way uniquely your own and yet reminding me of Robert Macfarlane, and I loved reading every word. I was divorced in 2010 and have remained single, consequently, much of my time in the woods was similarly alone and I recognize the tension between heightened alert to sounds and the temptation to become fully absorbed in the moss and the trees. Your drawings are exquisite—I especially love the gnarliness and feel that I can see the living tree in it.
I am currently on holiday in the Peak District and I don't think I could have chosen a more beautiful time to visit woodland. I have made some drawings, but I have kept out in the open, and I have barely seen a soul. I wish I could stay longer!
I really enjoyed this post and seeing your drawings, there is definitely something mysterious about woodlands isn’t there? We have one at the end of our road, and it’s not unusual to have the feeling of being watched there, and to stumble upon patches of eerie, unexplained stillness. Aside from the mystery though, they are wonderful habitats full of life and inspiration. Thanks for sharing the stories, I really did enjoy them 😊
My reply seems to have been lost, and I have just noticed, I am sorry! I am staying in the Peak District and, oh my goodness, it is heaven! I don't want to come home...
Ah don’t worry! Thanks for your reply - you’re not far from me, I hope you’re having a lovely time. The weather is beautiful for you! Xxx
I love your tree studies Deborah, they’re so beautiful.
I’ve always wanted to live in a wood, though I do wonder if I would find it unnerving?
I read Lolly Willowes for the first time a couple of years ago and loved it! I’ve just finished Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers which I thought was great, and also Small Bomb at Dimperly (can’t remember the writers name!) which is hilarious, and a great read. I too can’t find much to match up to them so far and am still on the search for new books.
Thank you very much, Cally. I feel the same about being in the woods but I am not sure I would want to live alone there. Have you read Neil Ansell's Deep Country? I loved it but his life was not for the faint hearted. I have noted both books, thank you!
I love that book, it made such a deep impression on me and I still think about it often.
I love your drawings of the trees! Woodlands have always felt magical to me, all those childhood stories set in the forest. I watched the Charlie Cooper Myths because I loved This Country so much!
Did you ever watch the Detectorists? Another gem of a series.☺️🌿
The Detectorists is my absolute favourite. It was filmed where I used to teach, in Framingham, but I never managed to be free when they were filming! Thank you very much and so pleased you liked the drawings, I hope to do more this week!
The woods are full of mystery and there is often a feeling of danger or dread associated with it, especially at night. Would we want to be lost in the woods in the dark? I think not.
Yet, the woods in the daylight are another matter. I do find trees fascinating, and if there are trees, birds are nearby. As might be squirrels, chipmunks and other furry animals.
As for these times, I find them unsettling. There is a feeling of dread and foreboding and I say this sitting in my living room. This does not mean love and beauty are absent. No, they are present, but there are also darker forces at work. I sense many feel it and can't shake that feeling.
Sadly, Perry, I think you are right. What is happening does makes us feel more aware of danger. I simply find it incredulous that he may be reelected...But woodland is still a place of solace and beauty. The wood I describe is thousands of years old and I draw great comfort from that.
Absolutely, Deborah. I take solace and find comfort in Nature, which is also the place of truth.
Thank you for another gorgeous post - beautiful trees and fungi. And wonderful to have seen a hare!
Thank you very much. It was a magical moment, it was just a few feet away. I loooked it up as I vaguely though it was symbolic of something and apparently, "a sign of good luck and a reminder to stay agile and adaptable". I hope the first is true and the second a very timely reminder!
Everything this past week has been centred on trees; I have been doing some rewriting on a story I wrote and this has trees in it, I am reading with much delight Richard Shimell's book Winter Trees, He is a print maker and his tree prints are striking and very beautiful. I am away next week staying in Sussex where I remember my mother always talking about Chanctonbury Ring which I believe is somewhere on the downs above Chichester so I hope to get there if my knees will stand up to the walk! My mother said she used to like to walk there from the teacher training college at Bishop Otter in Chichester. I too love trees.
His prints are stunning and I am looking forward to reading his book too. Have a lovely week away in Sussex!