Nourishment in Oakenhead Wood

A foray into the ominous heart of Rossendale's most notorious woodland.

There is a telling stillness in Oakenhead Wood, as though all the birds have fled and their perpetual chorus muffled. But it is not the silence that fills you with dread as you venture deeper into its heart. It is the insidious sense of being watched, unfailing and discomfiting.

At the heart of Oakenhead Wood there is a clearing that seems almost designed to unsettle the visitor. The trees here are twisted and stunted, and the undergrowth is so thick as to make passage difficult. But there is a reason why those who venture into the clearing are so loath to leave: the mushrooms that grow there are imbued with a strange, otherworldly essence, and those who dare to eat them report a euphoric sense of well-being and satiety.

The locals tell of a witch, long dead and gone, who once communed with the spirits of the forest and extracted an otherworldly essence from the roots of the trees. That essence, they say, is what imbues the mushrooms with their potent properties. But there is also talk of something more sinister lurking in the woods - something that preys on the unwary and the curious, drawing them inexorably into its tightening embrace.

As you walk among the twisted and stunted trees, you cannot help but feel that something is brushing against your skin - something thin and cold and clammy. The very air is heavy with a not unpleasant scent, and you feel compelled to breathe it in deeply. And then, as though from nowhere, you hear a whisper in your ear - a voice like dry leaves rustling in the wind. 'Stay,' it entreats. 'Stay and take your nourishment from me.'

It is only when you leave Oakenhead Wood that you realize how much your hands are shaking. The adrenaline, coupled with the otherworldly mushroom's effects, have combined to leave you feeling disorientated and hollow. But you know you will return - drawn back to the woods time and again, driven by that insistent voice that whispers even now in the back of your mind.