Going into the forest, you soon see that it is divided into numbered sections, and each has its own age of trees forming a
continuous cycle from fresh saplings to the great towering oaks.
On the right is a view from the "Rond du Rendez-vous", the cross roads at the top of the forest up from La Bruyere.
When we bought our house in 2003, this area was full of large old trees, like the ones still to be seen on the skyline. But these
were long ago cut down and the new saplings you see are growing well. Nothing was planted.
Beyond the big old trees is another sector and the picture below shows a close up of this area of the forest. The undergrowth has been cleared and the trees thinned out so that only oaks remain. They are small but growing fine!
Further on again you pass the old railway track and, after a small pine sector, you find slightly bigger trees.
And so they grow until the trees are large enough that there timber is valuable. But still the best trees are left, often having a paint mark drawn all round their waists to indicate that they will grow old! The picture to the left is taken from the track leading to the Roman Fort on the way back to La Bruyere. Sizable trees were cut here only recently as you see, but the forest remains full of great oaks.
The last picture is from the road to La Perrier from the Rond du Rendez-vous. The big trees have been cut and are
being loaded on to the lorry to take to the sawmill.
Last updated 24/2/2010