A Wagon in the Woods

Join James Aldred on a captivating journey, encountering master craftsmen, British wildlife, and a deep passion for a remarkable landscape.
There are some moments in childhood that are frozen in time, vivid and vital, an anchor. When James Aldred tracked down an old Gypsy wagon he once played in, he found himself inside one such moment again. Though brambles had overtaken its rotted boards and its wheels were barely there, it transported him to a magical summer in the New Forest forty years ago and awakened in him the possibility of reliving it with his young family. Pairing an ambition to restore the wagon to its former glory with a determination to share the Forest with his children, he embarked on a remarkable journey.
In his evocative memoir, Aldred chronicles his return to a cherished childhood landscape, rich with the history of the Romani Gypsies who once roamed freely there. As he painstakingly restores the wagon, Aldred delves into both the New Forest's natural history and storied past, tracing its roots back to the 16th century and even further to the time of William the Conqueror. Camera traps reveal otters hunting in the brook, while the nearby goshawk nest and fox earth speak to the area's thriving wildlife.
Masterfully observed, A Wagon in the Woods is a celebration of both people and place, and the timeless bond between land, history and the enduring spirit of adventure.

James Aldred grew up on the edge of the New Forest and spent his teenage years exploring it. By fifteen he was building forest shelters, sleeping rough in the woods and spending much of his time up in the branches of trees. These days, he works in the treetops as an Emmy award-winning wildlife cameraman working regularly with National Geographic and the BBC, collaborating on many landmark natural history programmes with David Attenborough. He is also the author of The Man Who Climbs Trees and Goshawk Summer, for which he won the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2022. He lives with his family near Bristol and enjoys returning to the Forest to share it with his wife and sons whenever he can.