There's something about walking beneath a mature beech that makes you instinctively slow down. Their huge domed canopies filter the sunlight into soft green light, while their smooth grey trunks rise like pillars in a great natural cathedral.

We've walked beneath them in lots of places over the years, including Stonor Park and the beautiful woodland around Wittenham Clumps. They're such familiar trees that I'd often admired them without really giving them much thought.

The trees lining the playing field at the school where I work are beech trees. During the summer, when the playground becomes far too hot, we naturally gravitate towards their shade. The temperature drops noticeably beneath the canopy, and soon the children are laughing and playing again instead of wilting in the heat.

They're brilliant climbing and hiding trees too. We regularly spot squirrels scampering through the branches overhead, while underneath, the children invent endless games. One of my little learners recently transformed the whole area into Jurassic Park, with the trunks becoming ancient jungle trees and every rustle in the leaves signalling another dinosaur on the loose.