The end of autumn

The Story of the Trees,

last leaves falling

The Happy Toadstools welcomed visitors

On Thursday 24th October,  about 120 children and teachers met the waking trees of Lord Ancrum's Wood for the last time before winter called the forest to sleep

There had been much preparation. Toadstools had given themselves to fungicians (mushroom beauticians). Check out the Song of the Grumpy Toadstools

Giants had allowed themselves to be spruced (and larches and popled) up for the event…

And here, we won't recount activities or the exactitude of details, but will simply slip in some more of the Stories of the Trees

bright flags marked the enchanted woodland

Monster of the Highways

Her head looks like a pine cone

You’d never know she was there

Until her brown conker eyes

Look at you.

She runs long the road

Wobbling on legs of different lengths

Sniffing with her big nose at anything she finds

Grumpy Toadstools glowered

Redbeard the Giant

The great woodland giant Redbeard is a huge but friendly person. As tall as a tree and as loud as thunder when he laughs, Redbeard is friendly and clumsy. He is so clumsy he falls over his own feet and once even slipped into the river and caused a small tsunami! But he is as bouncy as a bunny and always gets up and keeps going, whatever goes wrong!

One day, however, when he was asleep in the grass, a gardener mistook him for a small hill and mowed Redbeard’s beard with his lawnmower.

At first Redbeard didn’t mind, knowing his beard would grow again, but when the stubbles started to show, it was brown! “Oh, no!” cried Redbeard, “where is my beautiful red beard! I must have a red beard or I’ll have to change my name!”

His friends came to help and they are out hunting through the woods, looking for something that might dye Redbeard’s beard red again!

The Butterfly Giant

The Butterfly Giant lives in a castle made of tree trunks and there he lives a happy, friendly life. Or he is friendly as long as he isn’t hungry. When he gets hungry he gets very grumpy and then he will eat a whole deer or chew a tree-trunk to splinters. For a snack, he always carries a bag of woodlice sweeties: as sweet and crunchy as Crunchies themselves and they stick to his teeth in just the same way

Not very long ago, he was in a battle with some unfriendly giants when even his Guard-spider, throwing webs at anyone who came too close, could not stop Butterfly Boy getting a few cuts. If you see him just now, you’ll see the butterflies sitting like plasters on his face, holding his cuts shut with their legs

STRANGE WOODLAND PEOPLE, 7

Brown conker eyes

And a wooden mouth with wooden teeth

And a leafy tongue,

Feathery arms flap and lift

Her leafy body through the trees

Like a lumpy bird with a white stone nose

STRANGE WOODLAND PEOPLE, 8

With a seashell mouth and a seashell nose

A shell chin and pine cone ears

She watches the world through acorn eyes

Peering out from under horrible hair

And a wooden hat

the adventurers depart

peace returns with a golden tree