Country diary: A horned sheep, caught beneath a 'kink' | Paul Evans

The Marches, Shropshire: The sheep struggles, trapped in a fence wire. I try to separate one from the otherWhen ley lines of fate and wonder converge on a place, something extraordinary happens. Just beyond where the lane intersects with the north/south boundary earthwork of Wat's Dyke and the ring earthworks of Old Oswestry Hillfort, it crosses a long drumlin, and at the top of the rise is an oak.This tree is one of the Kinks, a number of local 300- to 500-year-old oaks with very particular characteristics: wide-spreading, short-crowned trees with a pronounced lean, compensated for by long, kinky balancing boughs. These oaks, found as scattered, lone individuals in parks, fields or hedges, may be an ecotype descended from distinctive ancient trees that could have given rise to the "tree" in Oswestry and previous names. Continue reading...