The place in Hayes which I would most like to write about in Hayes Common. This is a quite ancient piece
of land for on it here has been found a Roman villa, and my other relics, including many straight ridges of earth
which I am told are Roman. It has always remained common land and I am sure it is no less beautiful now that
it was in Roman times.
The common is many square miles in extent and is almost entirely woodland. Easily the most common
tree is the silver birch, and nowhere else have I seen so many of these together. The birch woods comprise most
of the common but other parts are quite different, There are grand avenues of old oaks and elms, cool pine copses
and even dense undergrowth.
At this time of year I think the common is at its most prettiest. The leaves are just changing from green
to golden brown, and these colours mingle with the dark green of the gorse and heather and the light green
of the grass. But the common is lovely at all times in the year. One of its most beautiful times is in winter when it
is under a carpet of snow. It is a wonderful feeling to crunch through that white world when every branch is laden and
every particle of snow sparkles in the sunlight. And in spring when the gorse is in flower it seems a mass of dark green and
yellow. But as each season comes along it is a refreshing change and always seems better than the last.
Running through the common are a maze of raods whcih always make lovely cycle rides and I have spent many happy
hours cycling along these three-lined roads.
I go to the common nearly every day although I do not always have the time, and I find it most refreshing at the
end of a day of noise and rush to walk in the silence of the wooded paths, broken only by the singing of the birds.
The original had plenty of spelling mistakes and I got 14/20 for it!