DISCOVERING THE OLD BRICK AND TILE WORKS
I am no stranger to a National Trust property, living in an area that is practically surrounded by them on all sides. So it came as quite a surprise to me that there was a little piece of National Trust woodland only a short way from my house. The old Brick and Tile works lie on a bed of Reading clay, which was used in the 19th Century to make clay bricks, tiles and even detailed gargoyles. After the clay pits were closed in the late 1960s, the woodland took over and engulfed the tracks and tramways that connected the site. At the moment, the birch woodland is carpeted in creeping ivy and rusty orange lichens. Unfortunately, my paths were limited by the deep puddles and the muddy swamps. Wellies were the right choice. Seeing the detail in the woodland seems quite overwhelming at first; after all, there is so much to look at. But taking in the freshness of a new leaf or the wilting and crunching twigs. In the Spring, the ponds are full of water lilies and the woodland is in bloom with
