DowlingDodd have been lucky enough to become sponsors of Plant1 making a commitment to plant 144 trees every year.
We are one of a large number of Cornish companies supporting this important work to re-establish woodlands throughout the county.
One of the sites that Plant1 are working on is Cabilla on Bodmin Moor and we were invited to spend the day with them seeing their work first hand.
The day was sponsored by Coodes Solicitors and began with an introduction from Carl and Rai of Plant1 then Merlin Hanbury-Tennison the owner of Cabilla gave us some of the background to the farm.
This was a great opportunity to see firsthand the work that Plant 1 is doing and to get our hands dirty with some weeding.
The afternoon was given over to a tour of one of the very few temperate rainforests left in Cornwall.
The woodland trees here were up to 400 years old and it has now been established that this woodland has existed for about 3,500 years! An amazing fact bearing in mind the almost complete deforestation that took place in Cornwall over the last 1,000 years.
Having the opportunity to walk through these ancient woodlands with the expert guidance of Merlin and Plant 1 really does open your eyes to the difference between these ancient woodlands and our newer woodlands.
From a personal perspective, one of the things that stood out to me most, was to feel the ground beneath your feet. Thousands of years of what is basically an ancient compost heap (think of that amazing leaf mould!) makes for a lovely spongy soft bed of ground to walk on.
Here’s to hoping that the woodlands we help Plant 1 create are still here is 3,500 years and someone else will be having a lovely soft spongy walk!
