Nicola Chester

Nature Writer and Activist

wych elm

  • Nature Notes

    Cherry Dew. The scent of cherry laurel in the keepered woods is a sensory mnemonic: it triggers a search. The bluebells are emerging where the canopy is native and open and, near the badger sett, I go looking for toothwort and find it. A ghostly wildflower that lacks chlorophyll and springs from tree roots, it […]

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  • Nature Notes

    A Tree Fell in the Forest. I was in the stable when the force of our second named storm, Barney, impacted. The lights in the houses across the field flickered and there was a wrenching shriek of tearing, rendered wood, a dull thump and a thrashing like waves crashing on a shingle beach. The hairs […]

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