For a ray of hope in our damaged world, take a train to Epping Forest

This ancient former royal hunting ground on the north-east edge of London has a lot to teach about how people and woods can coexist harmoniously

I’m no slouch, but I’m struggling to keep up with Jeremy Dagley as he opens a gate off the A104, the main road through Epping Forest, and bounds into the woods. He is the head of conservation here and charmingly eager to show me his work. I had assumed his job would be all wellies and fleeces, clippings and handfuls of soil. The reality is he spends a lot of time indoors helping local councils with planning applications, making sure they are sustainable and sympathetic. It’s clear he’s happier out here.

Jeremy’s knowledge is immense, unspooling in tangles of “ologies”. While telling me that the chalk ridge we are walking along is a ripple caused by the formation of the Himalayas, his ears twitch towards a chirrup and he points to a podgy bundle of grey and black feathers with a bright red cap. It’s a juvenile great spotted woodpecker, says Jeremy. As he regales me with the history of the ownership of this land, I stumble into a hidden ditch; eyes drawn down, he points at a delicate yellow plant. Lousewort, he says, excitedly: it was thought extinct in these parts in the 1990s. It’s thrilling being in the company of such a master.