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Return to My Trees: Notes from the Welsh Woodlands
When and how did we humans lose our connection with nature – and how do we find it again?
Matthew Yeomans seeks to answer these questions as he walks more than 300 miles through the ancient and modern forests of Wales, losing himself in their stories (and on the odd unexpected diversion, too).
Return to My Trees weaves together history and folklore with tales of industrial progress and decay. On his journey, he visits landmarks that once were home to ancient Druids, early Celtic saints, Norman Lords and the great mining communities that reshaped Wales. He becomes immersed in the woodlands that inspired the country’s great legends. At one point he even stumbles upon a herd of television-watching cows.
As Yeomans walks, he reflects on these woods’ uncertain future, his own relationship with nature and the global problems we need to solve if humans are to truly make peace with the natural world. from tree-planting in ways that are actually beneficial to the environment and local communities to embedding the value of nature into our financial and economic systems.
The result is a fascinating and funny adventure that offers insight into the past, present and future of Wales’s woodlands and shows what the rest of the world can learn from them.
Matthew Yeomans seeks to answer these questions as he walks more than 300 miles through the ancient and modern forests of Wales, losing himself in their stories (and on the odd unexpected diversion, too).
Return to My Trees weaves together history and folklore with tales of industrial progress and decay. On his journey, he visits landmarks that once were home to ancient Druids, early Celtic saints, Norman Lords and the great mining communities that reshaped Wales. He becomes immersed in the woodlands that inspired the country’s great legends. At one point he even stumbles upon a herd of television-watching cows.
As Yeomans walks, he reflects on these woods’ uncertain future, his own relationship with nature and the global problems we need to solve if humans are to truly make peace with the natural world. from tree-planting in ways that are actually beneficial to the environment and local communities to embedding the value of nature into our financial and economic systems.
The result is a fascinating and funny adventure that offers insight into the past, present and future of Wales’s woodlands and shows what the rest of the world can learn from them.
296 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 15, 2022
3 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
matthew yeomans
8 books3 followersI'm the author of four books and a contributor to many more.
I've been a journalist and writer for the past 30 years and have been published both in the UK and the US - appearing in publications such as The Guardian, The New York Times, National Geographic, Travel & Leisure, Wired, The Village Voice and many more more...
I've been a journalist and writer for the past 30 years and have been published both in the UK and the US - appearing in publications such as The Guardian, The New York Times, National Geographic, Travel & Leisure, Wired, The Village Voice and many more more...
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 18, 2022
Back in 2020, the world reached one of its pivotal moments in history. As the novel coronavirus swept around the world from China, countries dealt with the pandemic as it breached borders. In March of that year, the UK was put into lockdown and a plethora of rules and restrictions were put into place.
People coped with it in different ways, but one of the most noticeable benefits was that people began to notice the natural world once again. Matthew Yeomans was one of those who was discovering the natural world again. It was on one of his permitted walks that he had walked from a housing estate into a woodland. The beauty of it overwhelmed him and it was at that point that he decided that he wanted to write about the trees and woodlands of Wales.
But what was he going to write about? An idea formed; he would walk through the ancient and modern forests of his home country and write about them. He began to plan a route that in the end would take him on a series of routes from the border in England in the south, along the spine of the country to the west coast before heading inland and north. The route he chooses takes him past and through the history of the country from the ancient druid that the Romans feared, to the decays remanets of the industrial past.
He is joined by friends on some of the walks, old friends who provide good company and drinking partners. On others, he undertakes them alone which gives him time to think about his and our relationship with the natural world. A relationship that is under threat more than ever before.
The only way to save the world is to fall in love with it again – Brian Eno
Yeomans has a subtle and dry humour in his prose and has written an entertaining book that I really liked. His lockdown project to walk through the ancient and modern forests of Wales was something that gave him a sense of purpose, but he is also aware of the benefits that he gets from walking through these woods. This book calls for you to do the same and wallow in the peace that comes from being in a woodland or forest.
People coped with it in different ways, but one of the most noticeable benefits was that people began to notice the natural world once again. Matthew Yeomans was one of those who was discovering the natural world again. It was on one of his permitted walks that he had walked from a housing estate into a woodland. The beauty of it overwhelmed him and it was at that point that he decided that he wanted to write about the trees and woodlands of Wales.
But what was he going to write about? An idea formed; he would walk through the ancient and modern forests of his home country and write about them. He began to plan a route that in the end would take him on a series of routes from the border in England in the south, along the spine of the country to the west coast before heading inland and north. The route he chooses takes him past and through the history of the country from the ancient druid that the Romans feared, to the decays remanets of the industrial past.
He is joined by friends on some of the walks, old friends who provide good company and drinking partners. On others, he undertakes them alone which gives him time to think about his and our relationship with the natural world. A relationship that is under threat more than ever before.
The only way to save the world is to fall in love with it again – Brian Eno
Yeomans has a subtle and dry humour in his prose and has written an entertaining book that I really liked. His lockdown project to walk through the ancient and modern forests of Wales was something that gave him a sense of purpose, but he is also aware of the benefits that he gets from walking through these woods. This book calls for you to do the same and wallow in the peace that comes from being in a woodland or forest.
December 17, 2023
I should have really enjoyed this book, but for some reason, it didn't work for me, and I'm having a hard time working out why. Another reviewer has mentioned that he is a bit 'teachery' and perhaps that's why - maybe a little less lecturing and a little more emotion would have conveyed the message better. Even when he was walking through areas I know well, I didn't get any real sense of place, just a list of facts.
Possibly it's just the wrong book at the wrong time for me. But for whatever reason, I found myself getting quite bored. It's more of a 2-star read for me, but I've upped it to 3 stars because I do believe the topic is important - I just didn't connect well with the way it was conveyed.
Possibly it's just the wrong book at the wrong time for me. But for whatever reason, I found myself getting quite bored. It's more of a 2-star read for me, but I've upped it to 3 stars because I do believe the topic is important - I just didn't connect well with the way it was conveyed.
October 30, 2023
"There is a phrase in the Welsh language, dod yn ôl at fy nghoed, that means to return to a balanced state of mind. Its literal translation is, rather beautifully, To return to my trees."
An absolutely must read book which remembers the rich tapestry of Welsh history whilst also exploring the potential of a Welsh National Forest Trail. The author re-establishes the important partnership shared between nature and Cymru's very identity.
An absolutely must read book which remembers the rich tapestry of Welsh history whilst also exploring the potential of a Welsh National Forest Trail. The author re-establishes the important partnership shared between nature and Cymru's very identity.
November 7, 2024
I enjoyed the premise of this book - a walk through Wales with the idea of creating a connected hiking trail through the proposed National Forest. He augments his account with observations on nature and historical insights. The problem I have with his objective for the book is that it is built on a false idea (in the introduction) that Covid came about via man’s deep incursions into the natural realm (and I have to give him some leeway since he wrote it during Covid), but we now know with great certainty that it was caused via a lab leak from scientists meddling with gain of function, so it wasn’t man’s interaction with nature - it was a human construct that need never have occurred. All that aside, I can certainly agree with his call for conservation and better farming techniques to protect and enhance the land, but the goal of Net Zero carbon emissions is not achievable given current technology. More harm is being done by converting usable farmland into solar panel farms and polluting the skyline and coastline with wind farms which are exacting a toll on birds and marine life, have a limited efficiency and life span, use tremendous amounts of energy to create, transport and install and are not recyclable at the end of their life cycle. So while I applaud the idea of a national forest to promote the idea of getting people back out in touch with nature, I see the climate change issue more as a longer term natural cycle than as a man-made disaster - the exact opposite of how the author viewed Covid.
February 18, 2023
Generally enjoyed reading it, although coming straight after The Edge of Cymru, it was perhaps too similar. I also felt the tone was a bit teachery at time, and my interest in historical yarns started to wain quite quickly. It was best when he discussed his emotions about the journey, and his life in general, which I found much more compelling. Overall though, a great idea and mostly well-executed. Hopefully one day there will be new national path through the new national forest!
September 14, 2024
I really wanted to enjoy this book. I'm not sure I'm entirely clear why it doesn't sit right.
I've walked many long-distance walks in the UK and I do believe in inspiring a love for nature as a way to mitigate our collective damage. But getting some basic research wrong, i.e. New Zealand is not a federal state, Maori do not consider themselves a nation. I feel that the environmental discussion felt lifted out of the Guardian or something, lecturing as opposed to inspiring.
I've walked many long-distance walks in the UK and I do believe in inspiring a love for nature as a way to mitigate our collective damage. But getting some basic research wrong, i.e. New Zealand is not a federal state, Maori do not consider themselves a nation. I feel that the environmental discussion felt lifted out of the Guardian or something, lecturing as opposed to inspiring.
January 17, 2023
I love this book. Have recommended it to so many people already.
Matthew Wilkes who is an environment journalist takes a 300 mile walk through the woodlands of Wales to rediscover our connections with nature . Weaving mythology, history and the industrialisation of Wales, he has created a fascinating and often very funny journey.
Matthew Wilkes who is an environment journalist takes a 300 mile walk through the woodlands of Wales to rediscover our connections with nature . Weaving mythology, history and the industrialisation of Wales, he has created a fascinating and often very funny journey.
September 26, 2023
The author has a great idea that is easy to support. I just wish his writing were more evocative, even more poetic. I've hiked (a long time ago) in a few of the places he talks about and I don't feel like he conveys a sense of the landscape, of what it's like to be there. Without that, the argument for saving the woods and creating trails may fall a little flat with some people.
October 26, 2023
Nature, history, nostalgia, and a bit of humor. It's a good combination.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews