The cockney embraced her in the wood (5)
I believe the answer is:
elder
'wood' is the definition.
(type of tree)
'the cockney embraced her' is the wordplay.
'the cockney embraced' becomes 'eld' ('held' - I've seen this in another clue - said with a cockney accent, dropping the 'H').
'her' becomes 'er' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'eld'+'er'='ELDER'
'in the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for elder that I've seen before include "More aged; tree" , "Senior churchman - shrub" , "more mature" , "Senior tribal figure" , "Berry-bearing shrub" .)