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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Mark Cocker

Country diary: Here for all to see – nature’s remarkable ability to rebound

Velvet shank mushrooms growing on one of the 22,000 trees planted at Mousley Bottom in the 1980s.
Velvet shank mushrooms growing on one of the 22,000 trees planted at Mousley Bottom in the 1980s. Photograph: Mark Cocker

Stand in this wood by the River Goyt, listening to the basso profundo of ravens overhead, and you could imagine that this place is some long-tempered blend of town and country.

In one sense it is. High overhead to the east is the busy Albion Road bridge leading into New Mills town centre. Turn north, and in front of you trees stretch all the way up the hillside, where there are redwings gorging on holly berries and the first pre-spring sounds of wren song that even the rush of the river cannot drown.

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