Dander in the Gortin Glens on hot summer’s day

The Gortin Glens Forest Park is a charming haven of wonder on our doorstep, yet, somehow, feels like a world away from all our frets, woes and cares of everyday life.

In the winter, the forest is a shroud of quiet; its windswept beauty whistling loudly over the gentle breezes and rains. In the autumn, carpets of ruby and crisp golden leaves lead the wanderer along paths of dreams and scenery. In the spring, its life awakens from long, peaceful naps and the forest comes alive once more.

And in the summer, you can both feel and see the sun smiling down upon the deer and towering trees that stretch up into the heavens – almost touching the wispy clouds that add contrast to the otherwise unbroken cerulean blue skies. It is a place for all seasons, but, also, all moods.

Perhaps my favourite part of my most recent trek, which took place the week before last in the brazen heat, was dandering through the wealth of Sitka spruce which provided merciful shade from the sunshine, which was powerful, amidst endless birdsong.

What is most noticeable about these trees, apart from their distinguished stature, was their pine needles. They were neither green, nor blue, but a curious colour which fell somewhere in between the town. Shades of blue, at least in nature, is rare, which added to my intrigue.

The Glens’ Sitka spruce trees are native to Canada, and they provide much-needed homes to our red squirrel population, which is vitally-important as they are a threatened native species.

The fast-growing coniferous tree features a textural grey-brown scaley bark, and they can be felled for everything from paper to timber and even musical instruments.

As I spied tricksy red squirrels hopping across the branches of their forestry playground, I was also bewitched by the abundance of butterflies, including precious Peacocks, with their splendid large wings, flitting above the silver-barked red alder trees, and thickets of purple Scotch heather.

Although, it was harder than it seemed photographing these fairy-like insects as they darted so quickly into view… and then out-of-sight once more!

The utopian beauty of the wild woods is indeed the finest mind cleanser, but there is also something reverent about the setting; a place closer to heaven than earth, of which, the door is always a portal open to imagination and adventure – and the exit met with the fondest of farewells.