In Search of Lost Forests

Lately, when I’ve been up to Helmsdale I’ve also gone to Loch Badinloch to look for the lost forest that may lie beneath its surface.

In looking for clues Jacquie Aitken took me up the Strath past Loch Badinloch to look at bogwood. This is wood that has been preserved in peat for centuries. Today when the peat shifts and opens one finds the remains of branches, trunks and root systems from thousands of years ago.

The age of the wood can be seen partly by the treeless landscape which somewhat defines the region. These roots are left from forests that were felled several thousand years ago.

On my last trip to Loch Badinloch I found similar tree remnants buried beneath and partially emerging from the sand, water aswell as lining its peaty edge. These are not petrified but could they belong to the lost forest?