British Woodland cover art

British Woodland

How to Explore the Secret World of Our Forests

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British Woodland

By: Ray Mears
Narrated by: Ray Mears
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Nobody sees and understands woodland better than Ray Mears.

With deep natural history knowledge and practical woodcraft skills, gained over a lifetime of learning from the world's last remaining indigenous peoples, Ray offers a different way to experience our wooded landscapes. He challenges the old concepts. He looks to our ancestors and shows how man's hand in shaping woodland is critical. We are not separate from nature, we just need to ensure that our interactions have a positive impact.

With the emphasis on interaction, British Woodland is structured by usage. We learn that sycamore and clematis are among the best woods for burning, pine and oak help us navigate, and hawthorn and beech have edible leaves. Rope can be made from willow, utensils and tools from hazel, and historically, weapons were made from yew and wych elm.

With Ray as our guide, encouraging this aboriginal sense of connection to individual trees, our appreciation of wooded landscapes will change. We can learn how to live inclusively in nature, for our own wellbeing and enjoyment, and also for the future of our planet.

©2023 Ray Mears (P)2023 Penguin Audio Biological Sciences Botany & Plants Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science

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All stars
Most relevant  
This is not what I expect from Audible! The sound quality is so bad, I nearly sent it back! There are parts of the book where you can’t even make out certain words, and requires you to rewind and listen again, very annoying! It’s a shame because it does detract from the book. Simply not good enough!!!

Shockingly bad sound quality!

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Lovely book but Ray Mears doesn't do a great job of reading it. He doesnt maintain a steady volume. For example, he goes quiet as a sentence goes on. As a result, I find myself changing the volume as I listen so as not to miss things.

Mumbles

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I'm just on my third listen-through, still absorbing all this wonderful information. Great, really great.

Informative, interesting and strangly relaxing

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Vital reading for all those living in the UK & beyond. Insightful, inspiring & yet balanced.

Vital Reading

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lots of interesting facts about the history of trees and how they shaped how we live and work. lots of info on individual trees and their characteristics. told in a very interesting way. at first I found the chapters hard to understand as I thought the tree species chapter would resemble the main chapter such as 'fire'.

fascinating

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I love this audiobook! It's packed with interesting and useful information, with wonderful narration by the author. It was worth buying just for the introduction to pickled walnuts!

Simply Brilliant!

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Such a great book I think the world leaders should be made to read maybe they will learn something

Ray has so much knowledge

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Ray Mears is a British national treasure and this book reminds us why. His years of experience burst from every page.

A fascinating history of Britain's trees and woods

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I gave been a fan of Mr Mears for many years.. this is another great book about our natural surroundings and the connection peoples have had with it throughout history.

Another great book by the master

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A wonderful book exploring the deep connections between woodland and us. Fascinating and brilliantly written (and read) Ray imparts his knowledge with the magic of a storyteller I didn’t want it to end…but I’m sure I will be listening again soon.

Totally fascinating

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