UNIVERSITY OF THE TREES - Oxford

University of the Trees, Oxford, 27 June 2010

Four of us met in the usual place – Jackdaw Lane, the entrance to Aston’s Eyot – on an idyllic, warm, sunny June evening. Two of us had not been to a UoT group for some months, two had been coming regularly. We greeted each other, waited to see if more people would arrive, then wandered onto Aston’s Eyot to look for a place to be with the trees. The undergrowth had taken over since I had last been here in early Spring: the nettles had grown to shoulder height, and the cowslips were over my head. I couldn’t believe we would ever find a clear enough area where we could sit down under the trees.

We walked along the main paths around the Eyot; without discussing explicitly what we were looking for we found we were in consensus – keeping away from places where there were other people, following each other exploring down little paths through the undergrowth into the wooded area. Eventually we found ourselves, at the end of a little path, emerging into a small grove, where the ground was not flat but hummocky, and the trees were small and grew in spindly pairs, twining around each other, almost clinging together, and their leaves formed a canopy overhead. That’s why it was dark enough that few plants grew underneath and we could sit on the ground. Round the edge, nettles grew high, shielding our sitting place from anyone walking along one of the main paths.

We sat down and intuitively fell into silence for perhaps half an hour, listening, smelling the air, really seeing the different colours and watching the shadows change as the sun moved slowly down in the sky – and really feeling ourselves sitting in this place. We heard a dear snorting nearby (later we saw the deer, twice; being so still we presented no threat and she came quite close barely seeing us).

When we began to talk we reflected on a variety of aspects of being in this space.

We talked about how we had collectively intuitively agreed to find a hidden-away space, free of evidence of other people.

We talked about how the whole of Aston’s Eyot used to be landfill, yet despite that some of us felt less alienated from the earth in this spot than in others we had visited, perhaps because there was no human debris on the ground. We realised that the rubbish dumped here, so long ago, had been mostly made of glass, pottery – reconstituted earth materials, no plastics or oils, very little metal.

We felt the quiet of this dark place with the light around the edge dappled as it reached us through the leaves above and to the sides, and reflected on how darkness has a place in our lives that we rarely acknowledge. And that the movement to reach this dark place – exploring little pathways through the mass of brambles – was so different from the more brutal movement of fairytales like Sleeping Beauty – in which the prince hacks through the thickets to ‘rescue’ the princess. We thought about how words like ‘sinister’ and ‘spooky’ embody not the truth about being in dark places but our culturally wrought fear of being in a dark place, and how the reality of accepting this darkness was so rich and alive.

And even in this dark place where the light cannot reach and the wildness cannot grow and the earth sits atop an old rubbish dump, the trees are communicating with each other, underground, via the networks of roots and the fungi that support them.

We wondered what it would be like to sleep in a wood, amongst the trees. And a quick discussion about where we could do this made us realise that it’s not easy, these days, to find woods that are accessible to all, and not privately owned with restricted access. We decided to investigate and find a place where we can spend a night with trees.

Astons Eyot 31/05/2010

We met in the morning at 11 am, the morning was cool and fresh, the air gentle and moist. 6 of us met the bottom of Jackdaw Lane just outside of Aston’s Eyot. We waited for others to arrive, and when we felt sure we were gathered we walked towards the trees. Some of us had not been here before, others had been here with the trees on different numbers of occasions. We did not have dialogue at this point about where we would work or how we might work: in a structured process or in a less structured way.

We headed into a grove of young ash trees. We walked along a path into the ash grove in 2 groups of 3 and we wandered a little. One member of the group sat down by a tree, others wandered around this area taking in the the trees and some went into the nettles around this area which were waist height. Some had memories of having been with these trees before.

We talked for some minutes and agreed to work in a process of creating a field with the bands and the trees, and then to work with a structured process of exploration of detail, followed by taking experiences into memory and then sharing in pairs, before coming back to group and being together and with the possibility of sharing.

The bands and cloth holder were laid out on the floor of the wood in a light are amongst some tall ash trees. We worked for some time listening to the trees and noticing each other, and some bands were placed on trees, 4 in all, one low down around knee height, the others about a foot above head height. We work along the structured process. There was some movement of humans around the space and with the trees, as well as stillness. Some climbed up trees and others laid on or sat near the ground. There was some strong wind at times and a lot of movement in the tree tops above the very still and grounded base and roots of the trees. There was loud bird song throughout the time, and also the loud sound of what could have been a deer in some neighbouring trees. One or two ventured to the clearly visible edge of the ash grove with a strong fresh green of nettles and meadow growth beyond.

There was some time to write down and reflect on observations and what has been taken in to memory in words, and then some time in which we found another person to be with and verbalised some of our experience. There was much to say.

In the group we exchanged thoughts about the relationship between the human field and the trees field and how we communicate about and gather our shared awareness of each other and the trees in listening to, understanding and transferring our attention between the human field and the creation of the field of the trees using the bands. We identified a need for further meeting to continue development of rigorous yet open methodology. There was some reflection on the relationship between past experiences, certainty and uncertainty in the group dynamics and the possibility of attunement and misattunement in this process of working.

There was also some discussion about individuals feelings around involvement in the work of creating a field with the trees in oxford, using a hundred bands, as well as the ongoing oxford process group.

Map marking trees carrying University of the Trees felt tree-bands, which create a ‘field of awareness’ and make visible a third alternative university in the city: - University Of The Trees-Oxford. 

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=110901221892697128492.000487d4a3a5a8c3ddd85&ll=51.757215,-1.268921&spn=0.026033,0.109177&t=h&z=14

Astons Eyot - 02/05/10

A few of us gathered at the foot of Jackdaw’s Lane on a cool, but not-quite-raining afternoon. We entered Astons Eyot and headed south into an area of semi-mature plantation. Mostly ash, with cherry and poplar and alder amongst them, with hawthorn and elder low down. Closely grown, so tall and thin. A fair wind was causing sound and movement in the tops, drawing our attention to their verticality.

We wandered in silence for an hour or so; then spoke a little.

We verbalised some of what we noticed, and then talked of what might come next…  we enjoy the non-prescriptive element of open exploration, but also desire something else.

The exchanges suggest we are ready to experiment with a more rigorous methodology; more structure to our meeting, and more explicit and robust interaction between us.

We also identified a need for some suitable shelter, so that we can sit and talk in comfort, as well as move amongst trees.

We wondered about approaching Hill End Field Study Centre, next to Wytham Woods, and the Northmoor Trust at Wittenham Clumps. Shelley described a day of workshop she has offered in Germany, which we encouraged her to offer in the Oxford area. We expect to meet again, Sunday 16 May, at Jackdaw Lane, unless news of a more ambitious plan is sent around in the meantime.

Number 16, Harcourt Arboretum, Nuneham Courtenay