"I sat down and, for the first time since I was about ten, I heard the summer hum - the mass of insect noise. I watched a kestrel hovering, and a sparrowhawk. If it had not been for the distant wail of a burglar alarm, I would have thought I was about ten miles from the nearest house."

Harry Middleton recalls an evening last summer, spent immersed in the wonders of nature, in a place which, amazingly, is within hearing distance of Bradford's City Hall bells.

As he brings that particular evening to mind, Harry is strolling down a grassy path, surrounded by woodland.

Aside from our voices, birdsong and the rustle of wind in the trees are the only sounds.

Harry is a frequent visitor to Heaton Woods, an area of ancient woodland, plantation woodland, meadows and ponds.

The woods are a haven, a peaceful retreat from the pace of modern city life. Indeed, when rambling through this leafy paradise, it is easy to forget that busy Manningham Lane is just a few minutes walk away, and the city centre not far beyond.

Harry is a member of Heaton Woods Trust, established as a charity in 1978 to protect and care for the woods for the benefit of present and future generations'.

As woodlands manager, a job he shares with fellow trust member John Tempest, he is conscious of the great importance that areas of woodland such as this not only in Bradford, but across the country.

"It is vital that areas like this are preserved," he says. "There is so much development at present, it is crucial to keep areas like this."

Thirty years ago, the land was due to be sold for housing when local residents stepped in to buy it. Over time, more land has been acquired and today more than 40 acres are managed by the trust. Bradford Council owns some of the woodland, as do local landowners the Dixon family.

The trust's first purchase was Renold Wood at the end of Park Drive, where more than 4,000 trees were planted. Since then they have acquired land formerly farmed by the Calvert family. This is now named Rosse Woods after the trust's president the Earl of Rosse, whose family originally owned the land. And Lower Wood, close to Redbeck Vale housing development.

Renold Wood - named after Hans Renold, the trust's first secretary - is the focus for visits from parties of school children, whose chatter can be faintly heard in the distance as pupils from St Barnabas Primary School in Rossefield Road, spill out for morning break.

"We aim to use it as a classroom under the sky," says trust chairman Susan Brown. "It has everything the children need to look at in a microcosm - trees, flowers, special paths for the children to walk down, a pond, it is all here.

"In the summer term we do a lot of work with schools and children come who have never been in woodland, even though they live only a mile or so from here."

Other regular visitors to the woods include residents from the nearby nursing home, special needs groups, members of walk for health' groups, ramblers and dog walkers - whose pets are kept on leads for safety reasons.

Says Susan: "Heaton Woods is the best facility in Bradford for helping people living in the inner city to become aware of the beauty of the countryside which surrounds Bradford.

Every year more trees - mainly native broadleaves - are planted in the wood. "The number can run into hundreds," says Harry, "But we don't have a set annual target. Seven years ago, to mark the Millennium, 2,000 trees were planted."

This was funded by the Forest Authority and Bradford Environmental Action Trust (BEAT). Five trees were brought from Tibet by the Earl of Rosse.

"Every year we hold an arboricultural day when the Lord Mayor plants a tree," says David Astley, honorary secretary. "We are working on an avenue of walnut trees."

Adds John Tempest: "The trees are not all native broadleaf but that is predominantly what we are working towards."

In the oldest part of the wood, trees dating back "at least 800 years" can be seen. As we pass from this area up the hill, a clump of silver birch trees rustle in the wind. Harry draws attention to it. "Listen to that," he comments.

Since the trust was formed, funding has come from a variety of sources. Cash from Yorkshire Water and QED Community Life Fund was secured to extend Sean's pond - named after 24-year-old Sean Emmott who died in a road accident in 1990, and whose father, former councillor Tony is one of the trust's vice-presidents and a former chairman.

Funds raised have also been used to produce leaflets and workbooks, with information packs, for children. Heritage Lottery money paid for woodland management courses, which are attended by members of the local community and people from further afield.

Three years ago, White Rose Forest, a regional initiative to increase woodland cover and promote woodland management throughout West Yorkshire, provided cash for a long-term woodland management plan.

Local resident Elizabeth Helmich is a trust member and frequent visitor to the woods. "I came as a child, I bring my children here and they bring their children. The sad thing is, a lot of people don't know it is here, even people who live in Heaton."

Adds Harry: "People visiting for the first time look around and don't really believe what they are seeing - then you spot them later on with a silly smile on their faces."

A leaflet produced by the trust highlights a Greek saying which sums up the sentiment behind preserving and caring for this beauty spot. A society grows when old men plant trees in whose shade they will never sit.' In these woods, the planters are of all ages, and many will sit beneath the fruits of their labours and listen, like Harry, to the summer hum of insects.