Country diary: mighty oaks and many, many, doomed acorns

Hollingside wood, Durham city Acorns' chances of survival make lottery odds look attractive as most will be eaten by insects, birds and small mammals

This wood was last clear-felled in 1799, then replanted with beech and oak. Silver birch, horse chestnut, sycamore and holly have since found their own way in. On the southern slopes the oldest trees, straight-trunked with lofty crowns, tower above the understorey like the pillars and vaulted roof of a cathedral, inspiring a sense of reverence.

The raised voice of a distant dog-walker seemed almost like sacrilege, breaking the stillness of a tranquil afternoon. I sat on a fallen branch under an oak, to listen to the sounds of the woodland.