The High Wood

What's in a name?

Months ago, my friend Tom Ruby (@bgcts on Twitter) encouraged me to give regular thanks for, and a name to, our forest. He said it was important, and I reflected on the benefits of naming a place.

Naming a place does not just provide the logistical benefit of having a shared word for a location, it gives the place more meaning, substance, character.

It enmeshes you further, tying you tighter to the mycelium feeding the roots.

It makes you more responsible for it.

It makes it matter.

So we resolved to name the forest. But what? Wrens are important to my wife and I and hold a special place in our hearts, so “Wren Wood” was on the table, but there are no wrens in Wren Wood, so that was quickly dismissed.

There are deer, however. They love the many old logging roads and footpaths leading through the forest that was once an old sheep farm. Our forestry plan also educated us about the type of soil we have: a course, stony mess called Buckland loam. “Buckland” became a strong option. I proposed it to my wife and she shrugged. Dismissed.

So the forest went unnamed for months. Until this morning…

My daughter loves the woods. She loves climbing the west-facing slope running up and away from my parents’ house, going deeper, higher. It is high up here, and the elevation in the forest offers stunning views of the valley below.

This morning she asked “Can we go up into the high wood?” The high wood. A wood that is high in elevation, quality, and regard.

The High Wood.

Our daughter named our home The High Wood.