A Forest School Adventure!

Mama Beech is standing tall. A bit crispy around the edges, desperate for a drink, could definitely do with a shower, and is probably crestfallen that she's overlooking a parched golden field or two.

We need rain. 

We need it badly. 

I've not been along to view the dying grass, withered leaves, and blackberries baked onto the brambles at Forest School. I cannot water anything even if I go and look, so right now the fate of over 1000 baby trees planted over the last 3 years is totally unknown... and frequently worried over. 

Currently, I'm speeding through the English countryside, on a slightly too warm train that has to keep slowing because the heat is adversely affecting the tracks. On both sides the windows reveal what at first looks like endless fields of golden wheat, there is no break in the rolling hills: yellow, gold, and amber repeat and dominate, even in the meadows. Hay bales are wrapped and scattered, sheep are shorne, cows are huddling beneath trees and chewing on the little bits of green that remain around the edges of their pastures. 

As we pass through towns and skim past villages there is a noticeable lack of human movement! Few cars on the lanes, a solo fisherman on a river bank, horses stabled while riders stay at home, empty allotments basking: a deserted countryside. 

I can't see into the woods, but I hope people have taken to the cool shade and are lazily enjoying the calmness trees bring. 

As we travel further South West it becomes slowly greener. A huge pond has a gaggle of children jumping in and out. At one of the stations teenagers off on a camping adventure pile in. The maize outside is green. The gardens we pass have families in them, barbecue smoke is drifting.

As we pass from Somerset into Devon my phone says its 34°c outside. The horizon is still a heat haze. A misty view that waivers when you stare at it.

This summer has been full of sunshine.

Too much sunshine. 

The heat has climbed higher and higher, especially in South East England where Mama Beech thrives, and with no rainfall, the land has suffered. 

Finally we drop down to the coast. The sail boats grabbing the breeze.

There are paddlers and paddleboarders, swimmers and jetskiers, sandcastle constructors and sun-worshipers dotting the sand and surf. We're a couple of hours away from sunset but the light is glowing gold and shadows are lengthening.

I'm sure by Autumn Equinox we'll all be moaning about damp weather, colder evenings, and lack of sun! For Mama Beech rain = mud and happy children, so we won't be bemoaning that!

Today's Journey is... long! 

Paddington to Penzance's 5 hour schedule ever extending because of the weather. Pulling into Cornwall at dusk. The air still warm and sticky. 

From the North Kent Coast to the port at Penzance, a nine hour journey beneath a constant wall to wall blue sky, not a cloud to be seen, and now stars are popping out...

This is just the first leg of a Forest School adventure.

The journey isn't over, this is only part one. Tomorrow I board a boat. 

This August, I meet other Forest School Leaders, I have the opportunity to observe a totally different environment to Chartham, and next week, I get to join in with a different kind of Forest School. 

If you'd like to join this adventure, watch this space...