As you walk through the wood you see a variety of different trees from large horse chestnuts, oaks and beeches to small yew tree saplings dotted everywhere. One of the main reasons why I like this reserve is  that because in the middle there is a beautiful yew tree with a few headstones underneath that where made for someone's pet dogs. I particularly like the fact the dogs were buried under the yew tree because in Celtic time the yew was believed to purify the soil and protect the dead; that's where they get the name guardians of the graveyard and why it is still perceived as bad luck to cut down a yew tree. The reserve was originally planted as an ornamental wood in the 19th century and the headstones date back to 1869.

Along the outside of the reserve was an old wire fence where not one post wasn't wobbly. It took a whole day for me, Jess and Derren to replace every post. With the help of the petrol post knocker and Andy's new toy, the track barrow (a great little machine that acts like a wheelbarrow but not so much hard work), it made our lives a bit easier but Chance Wood doesn't give in that easily - before long we were post-knocking through sandstone! Did I mention that this was on a very steep sloping hill?! Even though it was a hard and long day's work, when we took a step back and looked at our work we all felt a great sense of accomplishment. I am pretty sure we all slept well that night; I know I did.