How do you feel when you walk in the woods?

This is the question poet Melissa Davies asked of school children and residents living in the Vale of Lorton, near Cockermouth.

She then used the responses to create a poem, I See Trees, which people can read as they stroll from Lanthwaite Wood Car Park in Loweswater down toward the lake shore of Crummock.

Times and Star: Poet Melissa Davies and Carolyn Davis, of Melbreak CommunitiesPoet Melissa Davies and Carolyn Davis, of Melbreak Communities (Image: Newsquest)

Melissa received over 100 contributions, ranging from a handful of words to entire paragraphs describing intensely personal experiences.

"The most difficult job I had was deciding which words to include from so much interesting material," said Melissa.

She came to live near Lorton fresh from creating community poetry at the Kendal Poetry Festival 2021.

The idea for the poetry trail came as Melissa discovered how active the local communities are despite being geographically dispersed.

"I wanted to capture their shared sense of being part of a special place in a poem which could be enjoyed not only by residents but also by visitors to the area," she said.

"The National Trust came quickly on board and recommended Lanthwaite Wood as an accessible trail which would allow the maximum number of people to engage with the poem."

With the support of the National Trust and funding from Allerdale’s Festival and Events Fund and The Melbreak Communities, Melissa was able to publish the finished poem on a series of boards.

Times and Star: The art trail at LoweswaterThe art trail at Loweswater (Image: Newsquest)

The poem, which has been written to capture the very specific experience of progressing through Lanthwaite Wood, will remain on display there until the end of October.

Melissa is delighted with the response to her community creation.

"I'm absolutely thrilled with it. It's great to see families enjoying it and groups of kids running between the boards to see what the next line of the poem will be," she said.

Browton 7+ back on their bikes: https://www.timesandstar.co.uk/news/22433176.browton-7-crew-back-bikes-well/