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Ancient Woodland Stenhouse Wood - a mixed deciduous woodland dominated by Ash. |
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'Ancient Woodland' is defined as semi-natural woodland dominated by native species which are marked on the oldest maps of the region and therefore known to be over 250 years old. |
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If you could visit Dumfries and Galloway 5000 years ago and stand on top of the region's highest hill you wouldn't be surrounded by moorland, nor would you be able to see any open grassland or fields, in fact in every direction you would be looking across an endless sea of Oak trees. This was the 'Wildwood' Britain's primeval woodland. Its composition might change, from Oak to Birch as you went North or to Lime down in Southern England, but if you were to walk across Britain from coast to coast you would never leave the trees. You'd best keep your eyes open though, because your travelling companions might well include Brown Bears, Wolves, Aurochs and Wild Boar! |
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Today the 'Wildwood', Britain's truly 'natural' woodland, has long gone, felled and cleared by our ancestors to plant crops and graze animals. However, there are areas of semi-natural woodland which either developed naturally on abandoned land or were deliberately planted and managed for timber production. Many of these are centuries old and, whatever their origins, the plants and animals within them are native species, the survivors of the 'Wildwood'. |
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Photos - Top: D. Heward, centre left: B. Soames |
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