Reclaimed by Nature

I keep finding bits of fencing throughout this woodland that lead me to ponder why they were put there. I've heard a few stories about the land use, but I'm not sure whether the fences were there to keep something or someone in or out.

In any case nature, as it has a habit of, has decided to assert its position over mankind and consume the fence. Obviously the fence would have been vertical originally, but the growth of the tree has twisted it this way and that. The trunk is pretty thick, so it's been there a while.

I was initially drawn to the stripy nature of the tree trunk and only saw the fence when I came closer. I don't know what kind of tree it is, or even if still alive.

It was a hard shot to take, trying to isolate the subject amongst the chaos in the wood and I wanted to get the nearest part of the fence in focus, which required two shots.

I think the image would be improved if I could have removed the dead plant on the right, but I feel strongly we should leave things as we find them.