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‌Thanks to…

Rebecca Winfield, for the help and support, and without whom this book would not have been written; the brilliant Sam Carter, of Oneworld Publications; Adam and Gill Beaumont, for the poetry book; my aunt Biddy, for words of sceptical encouragement; my brother Toby, for The Map and much else; Ruth Segal; the eagle-eyed Amanda Dackombe; Jacqueline Hutson, for an eye-opening walk around Markstakes Common; Sian Atkinson of the Woodland Trust; Oliver Newham, also of the Woodland Trust; Emma and Nick Vester; Andy Tunmer; the inspirational Judy Ling Wong; Roz Marston and her wood-loving friend, Annie Bailey; Paul Wood; Jonathan Bentley-Smith; Matthew Frith of the London Wildlife Trust; Barbara Lynn and Frank Lipsius; and of course, above all others, to Anna, Natalie, Alex and Esme, for all their suggestions, and for putting up with a distracted tree-obsessive in their midst. Especially Anna, who had the best advice of all: ‘just stop researching, and start writing!’