The Heart of the Woods - by Wyl Menmuir (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Just as a parent leaves a legacy to their child, a tree leaves a legacy to its surroundings. A deep and explorative companion piece to the Roger Deakin Award-winning The Draw of The Sea.

Throughout history, trees have determined the tools we use, the boats we build, the stories we tell about the world and ourselves, the songs we sing, and some of our most important rituals. As such, our lives are intertwined with those of the trees and woodlands around us.

In this journey deep into the woods, Wyl Menmuir travels the length and breadth of Britain and Ireland to meet the people who plant trees, the ecologists who study them, those who shape beautiful objects and tools from wood, and those who use them to help others.

Wyl also explores how our relationship with trees is enduring, now and in the future - what we get out of spending time around trees, the ways in which our relationship with them has changed over time, and the ways in which our future is interconnected with theirs.

Written in close collaboration with makers, crafters, bodgers, and woodsmen and women in order to better understand the woods they know so well, the joys and frustrations of working with a living material, and the stories of their craft and skills, The Heart of The Woods will delight anyone who enjoys walking among the trees, and anyone who, when lost, has found themselves in the woods.

Chapters include:

WOODLAND PLANTER: A woodland in becoming and an ancient yew grove on the border of North Wales and England

RITUAL WEAVER: Willow coffin making in Cornwall

WOODLORE GATHERER: Science among the trees at Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire

HEARTWOOD CARVER: Among the bodgers in a field outside Cambridge

BOAT BUILDER: A woodland community in the heart of Glasgow's former docklands

LANDSCAPE SHAPER: Re-wilding the Scottish Highlands and an organised trespass in Devon

WISH WEARER: The clootie well at Munlochy on The Black Isle, Scottish Highlands, a family tree on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, and the tree at Sycamore Gap, Northumbria

FOREST BATHER: Swimming at Swallowship Pool, Devil's Water, and Letah Woods Northumberland

MYTH WALKER: Walks in the fictional woods at Wenlock Edge, Shropshire

WAY FOLLOWER: Traditional carpentry in Takayama, Japan

FIRE LIGHTER: The stories we find among the flames and embers, Ennistymon, Ireland

SOUND CREATOR: A pub on Ireland's west coast and a guitar-builder in North Wales

APPLE WAILER: Wassailing in Cornwall

TREE WORSHIPPER: An ancient yew grove in North Wales

Review Quotes

"A charming work, full of vitality, that offers fascinating insights into our relationship with trees." - Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read a Tree

"With warmth and wisdom, Wyl Menmuir chronicles the manifold ways that humanity depends on trees. Journeying from Atlantic rainforests to Japanese forest shrines, Menmuir introduces us to a colourful cast of characters whose hearts lie in the woods: from ship-builders, bodgers and coppicers to roads protestors, tree-worshippers and ecologists. Not since Oliver Rackham has a writer so well appreciated the interweaving of woods and people." - Guy Shrubsole, author of The Lost Rainforests of Britain and Who Owns England?

'An uplifting paean to all things arboreal ... lyrical, moving and interesting' - Country Life

'We find how precious woods are and what they can mean for the future, with Menmuir a perfect guide to walk us through the forest.' - Horticulture Week

'Alongside, and undeniably, there is the sheer enjoyment of being an explorer. His love of the more-than-human world, but also, his love of meeting and talking with people and making their stories come alive... (Menmuir's) writing flows effortlessly.' - Caught by the River

'Slowly, it seems, we are learning to re-engage with the natural world around us, perhaps in response to online overload or the effects of lockdown, perhaps because we have realised we are becoming disengaged from where we live, be that in local, national, worldwide or interplanetary terms. Wyl Menmuir is ahead of us, animated, informed, and hands-on. I look forward to whatever he chooses to write about next.' - International Times

'There is something about the writing style of Wyl Menmuir that engages with the subject matter on an ethereal level. So deep-rooted is our connection with trees that these stories transcend the practical and the everyday. He is without doubt one of the best writers currently exploring our connection with nature, or our reconnection with it following centuries of moving away from it in the pursuit of civilisation...We need books like The Heart of the Woods to remind us who we are, what we have lost, and where we need to get back to.' Greg Hackett, Love Reading

About the Author

Wyl Menmuir is a novelist, editor and literary consultant based in Cornwall. He is the author of the Man-Booker nominated novel and Observer Best Fiction of the year pick, The Many, and Fox Fires. His short fiction has appeared in Best British Short Stories and he has been published by Nightjar Press, Kneehigh Theatre and the National Trust.

​He has written for Radio 4's Open Book, The Guardian and The Observer, and is a regular contributor to the journal Elementum.

​Born in Stockport in 1979, Wyl now lives in Cornwall with his wife and two children. He is co-creator of the Cornish writing centre, The Writers' Block, and works with Arvon Foundation, National Literacy Trust and Centre for Literacy in Primary Education on national literacy programmes, as well as lecturer in creative writing at Falmouth University.

​When he is not writing or teaching writing, Wyl enjoys messing around in boats.