Our Oaken Bones, by Merlin Hanbury-Tenison
The culmination of this book is a description of the Thousand Year Project and the establishment of the Thousand Year Trust, a charity devoted to the work of protecting and restoring Atlantic temperate rainforest across the western fringes of the UK and, crucially, informing people about why this is so important.
But let’s back up.
Merlin Hanbury-Tenison is the son of scientist and adventurer, Robin Hanbury-Tenison. It was this connection which drew me to the book. I’ve read about Robin’s expeditions over the years and was intrigued to read about his legacy. Although Robin is present throughout this book, Merlin’s story stands alone and is, arguably, the more compelling account of exploration and research.
Since the early 1960s, the Hanbury-Tenisons have lived on a small hill farm in the middle of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. As a farm, this land has never had much going for it and with successive changes in government agricultural, social and environmental policies, none of the varied and sometimes hare-brained farming enterprises made any money. Like farmers on similar, marginal land in other parts of the country, they were reliant on subsidies to make ends meet.
Following some challenging tours of Afghanistan as a young army officer, and a period as a consultant for one of the psychopathic companies that seek to “improve” efficiency in other businesses, Merlin Hanbury-Tenison was burned out and in a very fragile psychological state. Additional personal traumas led Merlin and his wife to seek refuge on the family’s farm. There they found calm and healing in the fragment of Atlantic temperate rainforest that occupies the steep valley of the river that flows through the farm.
The story of how the rainforest helped the couple is compelling. Recognising its benefits, Merlin and his wife sought independent evidence of the health benefits of spending time in nature. The evidence was clear and eventually, after battles with planners and funding organisations, they were able to offer members of the health services, the military and others in need of support the opportunity to spend a few days rest and healing in a Cornish rainforest. This was the catalyst for identifying the wider benefits of our remaining remnants of Atlantic temperate rainforest habitat.
The latter part of the book recounts Merlin’s discussions with neighbouring farmers. After some initial scepticism, other farmers and landowners began to recognise that reforesting or rewilding a bigger area of Bodmin Moor could be an opportunity to reduce reliance on government subsidies for uneconomic farming practices. This leads to the Thousand Year Project and the establishment of the Thousand Year Trust.
And why the Thousand Year Project? Because Merlin and the other trustees of the charity want us to think more like an oak tree!
Hanbury-Tenison, M. (2025). Our Oaken Bones. Random House.