Gameshope II

After a long sleep, we got up to a bright, if chilly, morning and had five hours of tree planting in great weather. The group planted 3,000 (tiny) trees in the weekend, and it was good to see that most of the 4,000 we all planted back last November are thriving. The aim, as ever, is to rewild this attractive valley by removing the sheep, planting trees according to habitat and then letting nature take over. All being well there should be some visible results in 5-10 years. It was also good to spend the weekend with others inspired to do the same thing, from the octogenarian Philip Ashmole, whose vision led to the rewilding of nearby Carrifran - his re-telling of the story in the bothy last night held us spell-bound -  to the two youngsters who went with us.