The woodland on Farnhill Moor is almost entirely composed of birch trees, which are a pioneer species, that is, the first trees to establish on open ground. This is only a transition; they will create the conditions for other species such as oak, holly and sycamore to establish and create a more familiar type of woodland.
The birches, with their thin branches and white bark, create a complex intertwining, with constantly changing views of dark twigs against the light, or white trunks and twigs against the dark. As Douglas Dunn says in ‘Woodnotes’:
Looking into a wood, the mind gets lost
In complicated sameness, on and on.
Birches
Ink and digital print, 19 x 15 cm
Broken birch
Ink and digital print, 15 x 15 cm
Complicated sameness 1
Complicated sameness 2
Farnhill birches double panel
Farnhill birches left
Farnhill birches right
Nighttime