This is going to be a long one, so you might want to make a cuppa tea or coffee first! It’s been a while since my last visit so I was pretty excited to be going again with a one-night camp planned. I was keen to have another go at sleeping in the back of the car on the plywood board I fashioned last year. I’d bought a good quality inflateable sleep mat, the main issue the first time was using a cheap foam one which gave little cushioning to my old bones. I have also cleared a better area to position the car. It’s a bit more private, surrounded by some very tall hawthorn trees and away from the sycamore which had covered my tarp with sticky aphid goo last time. To use the back of the car for sleeping, I have to climb in through the rear passenger door, so I strung a tarp over it to provide a sort of porch and  to provide protection when I get in and out of it or undress/dress. The arrangement worked pretty well.

When I arrived, there was evidence of some minor vandalism. The marble slab that formed the back of my camp fire had been smashed and a mature oak had been gouged with my mattock tool. I talked to a neighbour later who told me a bunch of teenagers had been visiting another plot of wood, earlier in the week and had inflicted some minor damage to his property too. It’s always going to be a possibility that intuders will enter the woods and steal or do damge. So far I haven’t had any incidences and I think this was a typical, bored-what-can-we-do-to-show-off-to-the-lads mindless activity that teenage boys often do.

Onto more positive things now. The woods are looking at their finest. Fresh new growth everywhere. The bluebells are at their peak of flowering and many other plants have sprung up and the trees are in their first flush of leaf – vibrant, fresh greens.

The two day trip meant I could also crack on with a few jobs and projects. I saw an idea in a book that appealed. An underground fridge. Basically a hole in the ground with a stone slab in the bottom. You make a lid by weaving thin branches covered with small brash and damp moss. The evaporation draws heat from the pit and keeps it cool. I started digging it and got about a foot deep before running out of steam. Much harder than it sounds. The ground is quite dense and roots here and there to contend with. I didn’t get to finish it so I’ll report back later.

Other jobs on day one – I netted off four large, coppiced hazel trees that have been nibbled off by deer last summer, just as they were regrowing nicely. A job that’s been nagging me to get done. The coppice area where I felled the big sycamore trees was a real sun trap and a joy to work in now. I had a go at splitting some large logs for making the seats for three-legged stools. A skill I learned a few weeks ago on a green woodworking course. Here’s a photo of the stool I made and would love to have a go at some more, using my own timber. I managed to get three nice straight pieces. I just need the time to make them now.

Time for my evening meal – a fry up of potatoes, onions, mushrooms and veggie sausages with baked beans. A lot of work goes into cooking in the woods and you need to be well organised. First to forage for dead wood to make a decent fire. Keeping it going is a job and a half as you need to keep feeding it for the first half hour to create a nice bed of embers. A cast iron pan is what you need on an open fire. This one was filthy and rusted when I bought it for £1 at a car boot sale. Most people would not even consider using such a thing but you can retore them with a bit of work. First leave it in the hot embers of a fire for an hour (take the handle off first!). All the old grease and muck will burn off and leave it as bare metal. Rub it down with wire wool to remove any scale. You can wash it in hot water and washing liquid but make sure you dry it straight away or rust will start forming. That’s the only time you should wash a cast iron pan. Next rub it vigorously all over with cooking oil, several times until no more dirt comes off on the cloth. Then either put it in a very hot oven for about half an hour to season it. The oil will change chemically and form a sort of non-stick coating. When it’s cooled, a light rub of oil and your ready to cook and when done, just scrape any bits off and rub it lightly with oil again. It will get better the more you use it but never, never, wash it now.

I spent the evening doing a few small jobs ready for the nightime, then sat down in front of the fire, whittling a few tent pegs for my tarp, sipping some spiced rum and listening to the birdsong as dusk approached and the last bird (a thrush) finally stopped to say it’s bedtime. I was tempted to turn in early as I knew I’d be awake early too but decided to embrace the peace and quiet and unique experience of sitting on your own in a woodland, in front of a fire, in the dark. There were mixed feelings – contentment but some trepidation. Being on your own and having heard my neighbour’s tales earlier, of “lampers” (guys who sneak around woods in the dark, looking for deer to hunt. They use torches to show up their eyes in the dark). Some were spotted a few weeks ago, it tends to put you slightly on the nervous side of relaxation and the very word, lampers, sounds sort of spooky. Your primitive, primeaval brain kicks in and your senses are heightened. “Fight or flight”.

I thought I saw a flash of bright light in the distance. Yes, another one. I kept watching to see if it moved. I saw some more and yes they were moving. Adrenalin started to negate the effects of the spiced rum. I didn’t want to go to bed without knowing what the lights were. I switched modern man’s part of the brain back on, forcing neanderthal man to listen to logic and reason. Could they be car lights from the minor road that runs parallel half a mile away, glinting occasionally through the dense woodland trees? That makes sense but neanderthal man kept objecting. There’s only one way to find out. Head stealthily toward the lights, in the dark (without a torch to give myself away) to investigate. There was just enough light in the sky to make out where the main tracks were and knowing it well, I could easily find my way toward the edge of the wood, where I could get a clear view of the road. The earlier spiced rum helped! Of course it was car lights and I headed back slightly more relaxed. Neanderthal man was still trudging along, somewhere behind me so it wasn’t the most relaxed sleep I’ve had.

After a rather restless night, I emerged around six o’clock and relit the fire, kettle on and a fresh coffee to kickstart the day. A nice time to reflect, relax and enjoy the new day. I packed my sleeping gear back up then made some breakfast – raisin bannock bread and jam and a banana. Today’s main job was to start building the log-wall, privacy screen around the toilet. It’s only half finished so no photos yet. I planted a few alder saplings that I grew from seed and chatted to some neighbours who turned up late morning. Some welcome human company. I headed home late afternoon, completely knackered, dirty and smokey but very content. A successful and memorable mini adventure.