Resting With The Feys

Resting being the operative word here ....

LARGER RESTING PLACE

At the Norwich end of the Watton Road is a pair of roundabouts with access to the A47. I use these nearly every work day to access and leave the bypass. Just off the roundabout with the sliproad onto the A47 Eastbound is a small area of ancient woodland. I'd never been there before but have been told that it's a great place for fungi, so have meant to have a look around at some point. As expected, there was little to be seen in the way of fungi at present, but the place itself just blew me away. It's managed to strict standards, with steep, undulating contours which at present are smothered with snowdrops in places. New trees are only planted if an exisitng one has to be removed, and even then the type of tree used, if not the same as the original, is strictly controlled. Shrubs and plants can be added at the discretion of the site, though anything added must be of a native species and permission granted. For it's not just an ancient woodland - it's the site of Colney Woodland Burial Park. The only material permitted for a memorial to mark the site of a grave is wood, with a limit on size though there is a beautiful variation in designs - some simply inscribed tree stumps, some are more elaborate with butterflies, some with owls etc. I spotted this gorgeous wooden 'shroom at one spot. Vases if used must also be specific ones of wood. Cut flowers are of course permitted, but without wrappings or ribbons. Many graves are unmarked, discernible simply by their contour. Throughout the site there are nest boxes on the trees, and bird feeders. When walking around, apart from a hardly discernible low hum from the nearby A47, the only thing to be heard is birdsong - lots of it.
Near the centre of the site is a 'retreat', a wooden building backing up against one of the small hills, halfway up, with glass front windows overlooking the bottom area which slowly slopes away downhill from the path. Inside on the walls are posters and photos of the various birds, plants and fungi that appear on the site. There are even 2 flat screens on the rear wall, with webcams from some of the feeders and from inside a couple of nest boxes. The three buildings on the site are all similarly constructed, from sustainable wood. It's the most beautiful place, quite unlike any cemetery I've seen before.
I just love this bench. I suspect that underneath it is someone really 'resting with the Feys' and that the bench was put there after the soil had finally settled and compacted, so that we may temporarliy rest with them also - the site has been open for about 14 years, so perhaps one of its earliest internments.
I certainly plan to revisit at Bluebell time, when there are apparently glades of them in one area (a much desired area to be placed apparently, hardly surprising)