Jul 30, 2026 · 55 min · 14 segments
In this episode we meet Luke Barley - Senior National Consultant - Trees and Woodlands for the National Trust to talk about his fabulous book "Ancient - Reviving the Woods that Made Britain" which was…
Luke BarleyGuestPete LeesonHostIt's funny, isn't it, because I think I had a similar journey in the sense, you know, I've worked in London and Manchester as a surveyor, and it was only when I discovered the joy, really genuinely joy, of being outside planting trees, which is a very simple thing, isn't it? Yeah,
But it is, and it tilts towards what now people talk about as sort of nature healing, isn't it? Yes.
And it is, I think, something which we miss in modern society very much is that ability to work together.
yeah it's great isn't it it's special it's really special i mean the big thing that i realized in writing the book was well having done this for you know more than 20 years i knew we had this really important history of woodland management in this country and across the temple
but
it was only writing the book that i really the penny really dropped just how fundamental that was for people, woodland management.
And it's not only that it's completely central to our history for the last few thousand years, since the Bronze Age when we really started managing the land and managing the woods, and it was crucial to the whole human history until the Industrial Revolution, basically that relationship.
That's in the historical period, but prior to that, the wooded landscape was just our home.
Yes.
It's funny, isn't it, because I think I had a similar journey in the sense, you know, I've worked in London and Manchester as a surveyor, and it was only when I discovered the joy, really genuinely joy, of being outside planting trees, which is a very simple thing, isn't it? Yeah,
But it is, and it tilts towards what now people talk about as sort of nature healing, isn't it? Yes.
And it is, I think, something which we miss in modern society very much is that ability to work together.
yeah it's great isn't it it's special it's really special i mean the big thing that i realized in writing the book was well having done this for you know more than 20 years i knew we had this really important history of woodland management in this country and across the temple
but
it was only writing the book that i really the penny really dropped just how fundamental that was for people, woodland management.
And it's not only that it's completely central to our history for the last few thousand years, since the Bronze Age when we really started managing the land and managing the woods, and it was crucial to the whole human history until the Industrial Revolution, basically that relationship.
That's in the historical period, but prior to that, the wooded landscape was just our home.
Yes.
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