What do you know about Tunbridge Wells' ancient woodland? Maybe you've been to Bedgebury Pinetum? Just before reaching the Pinetum from Tunbridge Wells is a section of ancient 'ghyll woodland' called Combwell Wood SSSI, a rare and extraordinary habitat with its own microclimate and ecosystem. For twenty years, this woodland has been cared for and studied by Mark, with his radical yet time-honoured approach to forestry, while Frankie, with an anthropologist's eye for the natural world, has found herself increasingly drawn into this fascinating and nationally important project.

In this talk, Mark Herbert (the woodsman and custodian of Combwell Wood) and Frankie Read-Cutting (a marine biologist and UK Youth For Nature spokesperson) will lead you through the history, biology, folklore and cultural significance of Combwell Wood to explain what makes this area so special, why everyone who visits the wood becomes convinced of its magic, and why it's beginning to attract national attention. Bound up with the story of Combwell Wood is the story of Mark and Frankie's own unlikely partnership and their quest to make their Combwell Wood project a national paradigm for helping ancient woodland recover from biodiversity loss. Driving both the project and this session, is Mark's philosophy of an elemental, symbiotic relationship between people and the land we live on.

Mark Herbert is the custodian of Combwell Wood SSSI, just south of Tunbridge Wells and near Bedgebury Pinetum, where he has been living with his family in his off-grid house for several decades, working in woodcrafts and educating visitors about the woodland.

Frankie Read-Cutting is a marine biologist, spokesperson for UK Youth For Nature, and a passionate, tireless advocate for greater public engagement with the natural world.