Through the Woods

There is a long and winding path that wends its way through an enchanted wood below a canopy of green foliage and pockets of blue sky. It is said that for those who do not wish to come under the spell of these woods, they do well to keep their steps to this narrow path and their gaze fixed ahead...

"...for the feet may wander and the eyes may stray, and they should not even think to venture on this path save in the full light of day. Though, where this path leads to, strangely no-one can say, not even those who have gone that selfsame way.

"They may claim with not a shadow of doubt, to have taken that path, the very same, but somehow it seems, at some point did stray, for when from the wood they came out, they were back where they started, of that there was not the slightest of doubt!

"But of the few who have ventured by night on this path, little is known and less is said, for none returned and none were found, not one soul came back from that unhallowed ground!"

Before and After

BEFORE

AFTER

We took a refreshing brook with flower-covered banks and surrounding woodland and turned it into... a road system for lots of cars to crawl along bumper to bumper.

BEFORE

AFTER

We took an invigorating rushing stream banked by trees and shrubs amidst woodland... and turned it into a dual carriageway which quickly choked up with cars.

BEFORE

AFTER

We took beautiful woodlands crossed by a sluggish watercourse and... yes, you've guessed it... ran a motorway through them for... you've guessed it again... endless lines of speeding motor vehicles to drive on!

AND COULD IT ALL BE LIKE THIS AGAIN?

I DOUBT IT!

Well, there are parts of the country that are still like this or the other pictures here. The question is how long will they last. Our forests, woodlands, meadows and wild places have continued to diminish over the centuries as we concrete them over for housing and other buildings and drive roads through them. Perhaps our uplands and mountains will fare better given the difficulty involved in turning them into highways and housing estates!