Scars of war and wildlife in the forest
The national red maple leaf symbols on the two large flags at the back of the Canadian war memorial are luminous in the afternoon sun as I arrive with my family visitors from Dublin. The emblems triggered a memory of two brothers, distant relatives of theirs who had served with the Canadian forces; only one returned. Had they trained here-abouts, and did the memorial include them? Having phoned these questions to Ireland for further information, we walk down the track towards Highland Water.
Two pines stand on the edge of an area of clear-fell. One would make a ship's mast. Why had its crooked companion been left? A black, deeply fissured stem growing among conifers contrasts with that of its orange algae-covered neighbour. Another is cloaked in moss. Only one in this group of silver birches shows the shining white bark that gives the tree its name. Why is that individual so distinctive?
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