Country diary: abiding beauty amid the bareness

Hamsterley Forest, County Durham: It’s tempting to think of evolutionary success stories as inexorable advances in complexity, driven by competition. But what about resilience?A dense conifer plantation beside this steep road into the forest, which hid a magnificent vista across the valley for half a human lifetime, has been felled. The bare hillside will be reforested but, before the next timber crop blocks the view again, the decaying stumps of its predecessor will become a niche for pla