Country diary: Twenty years ago this thriving woodland didn't even exist | Phil Gates

Low Burnhall wood, Durham: The smell of decay, the screech of jays - nearly 100,000 trees planted in 2008 have really come of age"I remember when these were all open fields," said with a sigh, is a lament usually associated with open countryside disappearing under creeping urban sprawl. Not here at Low Burnhall Wood, two miles south of Durham city centre, where former farmland in the valley of the River Wear is now filled with thriving young native trees.For 30 years I saw arable crops sown and harvested here, as I drove past on my way to work. Then, in 2008, no more cereals or oilseed rape: the Woodland Trust purchased the land and began planting 94,500 mixed, deciduous trees. Continue reading...