It thrives in damp, peaty soil and can live to a great age.

However, the shrinkage of the peaty soil carries on.

It tasted of cobnuts and peaty soil, of dry, late summer breezes and the first autumnal coal smoke from the hearth.

During a recent excavation, the garden was discovered to have peaty soil.

Although the peaty soil was highly fertile, it shrank so much that farmland fell below the level of rivers and flooded, and elaborate river flood defences were built.