Woodland as working space: Where is the restorative green idyll?

► Attending to the health and well-being of forest workers challenges the idea of greenspace as inherently 'restorative'. ► Forest and woodland work is often mentally stressful, poorly paid, hazardous, and always physically demanding. ► Attention restoration theory (ART) is applied in a narrative analysis of accounts of UK woodland workers. ► A tension is revealed between the restorative and the counter-restorative in forest and woodland as work place. ► Woodland workers describe skillful strategies to benefit from the restorative qualities in the woodland environment.