I met up with @jobeal4 earlier this week for a walk and draw in an incredibly atmospheric Pamber Forest. At one time this ancient woodland was part of the Royal Forest of Windsor, and a refuge for deer; the royal quarry. Now only a fraction of the 300 year old oaks remain and we didn’t see any deer on our ramble, but we did come across cattle grazing and spotted (and heard) buzzards.
We wandered around exploring for a while, before selecting a spot away from the path and laid Jo’s blanket on a deep, damp carpet of russet coloured leaves to try and make sense of the tangle of sharp, overlapping branches surrounding us. It was beautiful in there, hidden deep amongst the trees, but also weirdly still and a little eerie, so I’m glad I had company.
A fine misty drizzle hung in the air for most of the afternoon, but I only noticed it had been raining when my sketchbook page became damp & warped. Being absorbed in drawing swallows up time at an alarming rate and I don’t know how long we were there but it must have been several hours. We realised that our eyes had adjusted to the diminished light, that it was not long until dark & we had become really quite cold. The lack of sun meant there was no way of telling which way we were facing and so which direction we needed to head. I did feel a slight urgency to find our way out of this cautionary fairytale setting before dark. Although the remaining site is only 844 acres, the paths criss-cross and curve and so it is easy to become disorientated.
We emerged from the cluster of formidable trees onto the soft springy heathland of Silchester Common. The aromatic pines, gnarly silver birches and spiky gorse bushes found here are the backdrop to my childhood. I would cycle endlessly through this terrain after school, feeling a snippet of freedom before heading for home.
It was still just before dusk, so I was able to take Jo on a quick loop of the common to a particularly favourite spot of mine, where the setting sun glows though a majestic pine and shimmers onto the water in front of it. We were lucky that the weak wintery sun did briefly put on a show the moment we arrived. I recently made a drawing of this scene, mainly from memory, so it was a treat to see it in the flesh again so soon after completing my drawing.
