Giles Wood

England was carpeted with forests before the Industrial Revolution, before oaks were felled to build sailing ships to fight the Spanish Armada, before the Norman invaders established forest laws, before the Romans cleared land for agriculture, before … Well, you get the idea—England has had a long decline in forests over millennia, meaning the further back you go, the more trees there were.

Thankfully there are various efforts to preserve and expand existing forests, such as the Woodland Trust, Trees for Life (in Scotland), The Heart of England Forest and Rewilding Britain to name just a few organizations. Some people, however, just do it themselves.

Freddie Giles was an entrepreneur and race car driver who in 1993 planted five thousand trees on his property at Seend Park Farm and then allowed public access to his wood. You’ll find access to Giles Wood at Bridge 156, a swingbridge, to the north of the canal on the towpath. It’s just a little west of the Seend Lock Flight on the Kennet & Avon Canal.

I’m not sure what is the status of the wood after Giles’ death in 2016, but I hope access continues, which I’ll be able to confirm when I visit this September.

BTW, Timothy West and Prunella Scales visited Giles on an episode of Great Canal Journeys (Series 1), which is available on YouTube.