Spirit of Pan in the briar

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire Blackberries, earthy, gritty or fermenting into wine - the scrub is bearing fruit as a reward for neglect

Blackberries: they dangle temptingly, insinuating themselves. Wild fruit is evocative. What was once a donkey paddock between two arms of woodland has, over the past 10 years or so, become a bramble patch.

There are also tangles of dog rose, thickets of hawthorn and scattered poles of ash saplings among the grass. The paddock is being reclaimed by woodland. There are irresistible forces at work here that make all those years of human labour count for nothing.