Living in mass society presents us all with problems we are ill-equipped to deal with. We live surrounded by strangers, and most of us have moved house, and even town, more times than we care to count. In workplaces and accommodation we live alongside people we have known, will know, only for short periods of time. All of this is very new for our species.

I’ll get to the appropriate actions, or perhaps inactions, straight away: don’t just thoughtlessly clear brambles away. Don’t think of brambles as the enemy, and don’t begrudge them their thorns.

Take a moment to observe natural succession in the landscape. You don’t have to be in the countryside. You can find it in towns and cities too.