Managed or not, woodland is constantly changing. This view below is of ‘The Well Walk’ in 1907. Then as now, birch and bracken predominate, but a large evergreen is apparent in the centre. It’s possible this is the path in Well Wood, rather than the Great Wood proper, although it does look straight as most of the North-South paths do.
A number of photographs of the wood from around 1970 are shown below, with a modern view of the same location.
Before the extension to the car park, the way out was very close to the way in. Now, this old path has disappeared amongst a mass of rhododendron.
The signboard and honesty box were placed between the red route entrance and the ‘prayer stone’. This shows the original routes of the coloured trails.
At the far northern side of the Red Route is the ‘Hut Glade’ as it is still known. The hut can just be seen in the old photograph but all traces of it have now disappeared.
This is a more modern photo of Hut Glade, though since then clearance in the winter of 2009 has further opened up this glade. See the tree survey here.
