Trees & Me | Matt Holden

Aged ten I was a committed member of Acton Churchyard Tree climbing club. We had laminated little members’ cards for ourselves and everything. It was official, exclusive and above all, a lot more fun than church. There wasn’t even many trees in the churchyard. A long drive of large leaved limes lead up from the High Street, reaching high into the sky, suckering at the base but offering very little climbing potential. There were a few gnarled yews which you could squeeze in to, a handful of recently planted trees and standing in the back corner, two large horse chestnuts. These were the jewels in the crown as far as we were concerned, a bountiful climbing frame and a good provider of conkers in the autumn. One branch drooped down towards the ground, curving into a nice ‘seat’ to bounce up and down on and a means to shimmy up into the branches above.

In my mind these trees are huge, giants standing amongst the gravestones. In reality they are probably fairly meagre, inflated by the imagination of a ten year old. I can’t remember what happened to the club. My dad found the crinkled membership card in 2019 when he was clearing out his garage. I suspect it faded away, as friends left the village and we grew older. I climbed in the churchyard again, this time as a rock climber, carefully gripping the grooves between the flints protruding from the side of the church spire. But I never climbed in the horse chestnuts again.

When I graduated with an Environmental Science degree in 2010, it fast became apparent that I knew nothing. I wanted a job in nature conservation. I wanted to be outside. But my understanding of the natural world was, given I was now £20,000 in debt for the cause, nothing short of shocking. I started working with Juliet Hawkins, a Suffolk Wildlife Trust farm advisor, and she fast became a mentor. We would drive frantically along the back lanes of Suffolk, trying desperately not to be late to meet a farmer, and she would point and shout, “that one?”….”that one?”….”that one?”. To which I would fumble replies such as, “errrrrm, field maple?”, “crack willow?”, “beech….wait no hornbeam”.

I gradually started to build a picture of the trees and shrubs around me, the twisted sinews of hornbeam, the square stems of spindle, the black buds of ash. I am no tree expert but my knowledge grew. I completed a wet woodland survey project for Suffolk Wildlife Trust. I started tree work on a ranger placement with Cambs, Beds and Northants Wildlife Trust, diligently coppicing the hazel stands in Hayley Wood, once a local haunt of the late historian and ecologist Oliver Rackham. I started admiring trees, I started naming trees but I still wasn’t compelled to climb them again.

There are very few good things to have come out of 2020 but tree climbing was certainly one of them. I wouldn’t say I returned comfortably to tree climbing; I felt a little scared as I slipped off my boots at the base of a grand mossy oak on Dartmoor. I stepped barefoot onto the moss carpet of a drooping branch that rose above granite boulders to the trunk. I tried balancing to start, shimmying second and in the end resorted to straddling the branch, bumping myself gradually higher. In this position, it is remarkably hard to feel elegant, relaxed or vaguely confident. I was glad there were no onlookers!

I reached the sturdy trunk and basked in the warmth of the morning sun, admiring the young oak leaves, glowing pale green in the rays. Spring was in the air and it felt good to be up in the heights of a tree again. I would climb many more trees in 2020, enjoying the challenge of finding harder ascents, two finger pockets, 'jugs' and odd gnarly bits to grasp on to. I began viewing trees differently. I started climbing trees on my university campus. I started spotting ‘routes’ and ‘problems’ in the fissured bark of oak and pines that I walked past. I stopped just admiring trees, I stopped just naming trees and I began to love and respect them. All the childlike wonder and excitement of clambering up into the churchyard chestnuts was renewed.

Matt Holden is an environmentalist and PhD researcher based in Devon. He's also a keen rock climber and outdoor enthusiast. Thanks for sharing your story Matt! If you'd like to contribute your own story to Leafy Locals, please get in touch!