How Ecclesall Woods has evolved - and kept us all sane in the last year

Before then it was enclosed and policed by Sir Ralph de Ecclesall for him and his friends to chase deer, and thousands of years earlier, carved stones under the trees suggest the woodland was important to stone age residents of Millhouses.But over the last 18 months, the Ecclesall Woods were used by the people of Sheffield to escape a pandemic.As the roads and shops went quiet in the spring of 2020, those of us lucky enough to live within walking distance of South Yorkshire’s largest ancient woodland could officially extend our household to more than nine miles of paths and bridleways within the woodland boundaries. We all had time to see the spring flowers slowly appear, then the bluebells, and the changing greens in the canopy of oak and beech and sweet chestnut trees coming into leaf.We edged past other households two metres away on the paths, and nodded rather than speaking.In those first locked down weeks, the woods seemed quiet, apart from the birdsong, as organised walking groups from Step Out Sheffield and athletes from the Thursday Wood Run could no longer organise, so stayed safe at home or made their own careful arrangements.Then as more people ventured out, those of us classed as vulnerable went out of our way to find quiet pathways off the busier trails. As the summer arrived and the bluebells died down, you could make up your own running circuit by randomly choosing left or right pathways and hoping for the best. You’d usually have hills to help your training, but it was also easy to find yourself lost in a thicket or stuck in a swamp as the theoretical pathway disappeared.We also used the woodland paths to help our young foster child learn how to walk. Taking his first steps on bumpy tracks gave him a surer step and he was soon running too, disregarding the tree roots and muddy ridges and nearly always keeping his balance.When he got tired, he’d find sticks and stones for the streams. We visited the money tree near Abbeydale Road South, and explored the dens set up by older kids.Here and there, our temporary two year old would find small wooden playgrounds and little doors among the roots of tall trees, and while he’d maybe wonder who lived there, we considered the time and inclination of some mysterious Outdoor Citizen to create such wonderful playthings.As the autumn arrived, people gathered sweet chestnuts like they would generations ago, and we and the little boy watched the leaves change colour and fall.Different parts of the woods have different characters, and exploring nearly every day gave us a sense of the people who’d walked there before us, when the woods were parcelled into plots for different owners and purposes.Old English trees like oak, hazel and hawthorn were supplemented in the 1800s by planted timber species like larch, sweet chestnut, sycamore and beech (not really a Sheffield native) and the newcomers often thrived to dominate some parts of the woodland.As winter arrived, the virus resurgence meant visitors became cautious again, and runners charged up their head torches for solo circuits around the dark and frosty pathways. And then we all got vaccinated. Rangers reported dozens of relieved pensioners setting up in sunny glades with flasks and deckchairs, and the Woodland Discovery Centre and its coffee stall became busier than Kelham Island. And the car park was extended with a machine for donations to help keep the woods beautiful.We’ve discovered how crucial a place like Ecclesall Woods is to keep us sane. Nowadays, it’s a working woodland like never before.See: https://friendsofecclesallwoods.org.uk