Use of English PRO

High in a tree, veiled in a freezing mist, a woodsman inspects a colossal spruce in the name of Anglo-Norwegian relations. Deep in the depths of Oslomarka, which is a network of coniferous forests on the edge of Oslo, every year since 1947, a tree has been felled to be shipped to London and presented as the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree.
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Oslo is surrounded by natural beauty; edged with woodland and a fjord, it is often described as 'the blue, the green and the city in between.' It feels truly wild, populated with moose, lynx, roe deer and even the odd wolf. 'Two wolves live out here now,' says Oslo mayor, Marianne Borgen. 'They are not hunted, they are welcome.'
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Or try out a range of other winter activities, like hiking the many trails, mountain biking, ice skating, fishing, picnicking and, of course, skiing and tobogganing the timeworn runs. If you don't want to head straight back to Oslo, you can stay in municipal sports cabins, very reasonably priced, and scattered throughout the woods from where the British tree will come.
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For Christiansen's foresters, the challenge is to manage this terrain in a way that pleases the public. Visitors want a scar-free and diverse landscape, with trees of all ages and all sizes at the same spot, rather than the uniform vistas created by commercial forests.
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The following morning, the sky is cobalt blue and the air is sharp. The Holmenkollen ski jump looms dramatically behind the hotel, with its launch platform 200ft above the ground and delivers a knee-trembling panorama, from the crystal waters of the fjord to the rolling green woodland.
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Leaving Holmenkollen on a two-mile ramble takes you to Frognerseteren, which was once a mountain dairy farm and is now a popular restaurant. This is where the forest really takes over. Decent walking boots and thick socks are essential. The few hikers I encounter are sporting some serious kit, and the silence is deafening, except for the occasional tinkle of nearby streams.
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There is constant pressure from property developers to impinge on these woods but Mayor Borgen is determined it won't happen. The people don't want them to build - they like things just as they are, and want them to stay like that, and she feels the same way.