Very Interesting read! Thirty Years in Wilderness Wood...Chris Yarrow with Anne Yarrow tell of establishing a a living Wilderness park

Thirty Years in Wilderness Wood by Chris Yarrow documents how he and his family survived, lived, and cultivated 63 hectares or acres of Sussex, close to Hadlow Down, woodland into the beautiful nature park it has become. Chris was a free-lance forester during the economic depressed 70’s. He had earned his masters while in Montana, USA and returned to south-east Britain with hopes of one day living on land he could preserve and earn a living. Anne’s degrees in geography and conservation enabled her to be knowledgeable in the type of acreage they would need to fulfill this dream of a sustainable nature park. He and his wife Anne wanted a different life for their family. By the time they had searched and purchased Wilderness Wood they had two young daughters, Jo and Kate, in 1980.

As I read the struggles for this family as they began the arduous tasks of living during the first lean years of hard work to improve, cultivate, and plan a future at the site I was hooked with this story. As I read through the book, I would find myself looking online at the present-day results of Chris and Anne’s dream and the work of many to make this a reality. It was exciting to read how they finally received approval to build a home on a specific area in 1983. This home became a tangible reality by 1985.
Once you start reading Thirty Years in Wilderness Wood you will be engrossed in the details of how a family lived within the laws and restraints of land conservation, timber management, and how living among nature helped shape the lives of Jo and Kate. The design and marketing of the woodworking for furniture was a financial help as well as the Christmas tree part of the project.
You will see pictures of the beautiful bluebells, see maps of trails, read of the devastation of a winter storm, and the resulting success of a village, community, and supporting group of people who came together to bring to culmination a most wonderful conservation of land in this award-winning nature park!