#tree hunter

Nominated by Kieran Barry, Llangollen.

The Reclaimers - Limekiln Sycamores - (Acer pseudoplatanus)

I would like to nominate these opportunistic sycamore trees growing within the old limekilns here above the Offa’s Dyke Path at Creigiau Eglwyseg and Trevor Rocks to show how adaptable and resilient nature can be. 

From an industrial, man-made construction, these wind-tolerant and hardy trees soften their surroundings by thriving where other species of trees cannot.

Banks of limekilns and individual kilns litter this upland landscape below the Carboniferous limestone outcrops of Creigiau Eglwyseg and Trevor Rocks. The kilns were used to produce industrial and agricultural lime for local iron foundries and ones farther afield. 

In the not so distant past, there would have been hundreds of people toiling and working away trying to make a tough living up here for their families.

So, these sycamore trees represent to me the ghosts and shadows of these hard-working folks. They are their legacy if you like.

The sycamore trees provide habitat for many creatures as nature reclaims these once harsh areas of quarries, kilns, screes and limestone rocks that were once hives of industrial activity.

NOMINATED BY: Lisa Sture

The Phoenix Tree. (Private site Royal Forestry Society) I have nominated a tree in mid-Wales close to Offa's Dyke Path, lying just a short walk down a track. It offers a rewarding and uplifting short detour. Locally, it is called the Mother Tree and is a Coast Redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens ) in the heart of this cathedral-like forest of towering giants. The Mother Tree is a fallen tree. It fell over in 1936 and was left. Delightfully, a number of the upward facing branches grew, forming a connected row of trees. It is sometimes called the Phoenix tree, however with it's giant claw - and being in Wales - it could also be called The Dragon Tree!

Whilst walking in the forest, this tree invites you to pause, and in pausing, the tremendous peace of this place can be felt and the songs of uncommon birds heard, reminiscent of the sounds in a rain forest. I felt this invitation to pause when I first saw photographs of it, and I knew I would visit.

When I sat with this tree, I found myself reflecting on these times of ecological fragility, and how this tree speaks of robustness, that nature will heal and regenerate over and over if left. Of course, 'if left' is the crux, and thankfully this grove is being looked after. The bark on redwoods contain tannin and is fibrous and thick. The bark on the biggest trunk actually feels hug-able, it is so like a teddy bear! Redwoods are some of the longest-lived trees and can live to 3,000 years old. I feel lucky to be able to experience the majesty of these trees and the sense of balance I feel around them. As I looked up through the canopy, it did indeed feel like a cathedral.

 Note: This grove was planted in 1857, just 3 years after the first redwoods arrived in the UK from California. It was planted with the intention that it would be the largest Redwood Grove in Europe - making this one of the most historically significant stands of trees in the UK.

READ MORE at the RFS website>

Nearby there are examples of how Coast Redwoods send up new shoots when the tree is cut down. This is called coppicing and is common in broadleaved trees such as oak, ash and hazel but is very rare in conifers. ©Royal Forestry Society

The site was gifted to the Royal Forestry Society on 17th October 1958. It's now a private site and permission must be gained to visit. Their website provides more details. Click here to go to the location of the tree recorded onto the  

A day that changed forever the face of the campaign to protect the street tree heritage and save the reputation of this great green? city...

Rustlings Road 12 noon, 14 year old Tom sums it all up...’It’s meant to be a green city and they’re chopping down the trees. It doesn’t really make sense’ 

Nov. 17th 2016 was a dark, dark day fro democracy in Sheffield & the UK. As perhaps is this week in the light of the ‘coincidental’ reporting by the Sheffield TELEGRAPH showing a front page of, - not the 99.9% of happy, arb-friendly Tree Protectors who have campaigned to preserve their very special Sheffield Street Treescape - no, the Telegraph chose to go with a masked tree protector who just did not want to be recognised because of the tactics of Sheffield City Council in their injunctions and ‘evidence gatherers’ who have even followed people back to their own homes.

Watch the FILM HERE>   14 year old TOM   

At 7am (17/11/16) I awoke to see the devastation happening in Rustlings Rd on Facebook and immediately set out for Sheffield. To do what I did not know. To meet and hopefully support them, yes I guess, but what else could be done? It was an experience I would not want to repeat. I still have film I have not shown. Of folks so deeply upset and I guess in shock at what had just happened.

#TreeHeroes Jenny Hockey & Freda Brayshaw.

Bearing in mind that only at 4:35am Sheffield City Council had issued on their own website a document that had been due out in the summer stating that 5 or 6 of the trees on Rustlings road could and should be retained, easily, cheaply. They were NOT DANGEROUS! 30 minutes later they started to CUT THEM DOWN, IN THE DARKNESS OF EARLY MORNING. Unsafe & illegal working practices at 5am. Many residents having been threatened with their cars being towed away, and eventually two lovely ladies in their 70′s - Jenny Hockey & Freda Brayshaw...yes you read this correctly. 70+ year old Grannies taken away to jail along with a chap (unknown). Only to be later told as they entered the court after months of worry & stress that all charged had been dropped. (Of course this was after our great friend lawyer Paul Powesland had come in free to defend our proper rights) and show the laws they used were incorrect & illegal.

Watch the FILM HERE > SUSAN says it as she sees it

In case we need reminding of just how bad Sheffield City Council got things. Not just on this day of course but theirs was the worst day, and a TURNING POINT in the campaign. The world media reported the evnets. Sheffield City Council eventually issued an apology of sorts.

Watch FILM HERE  > CALVIN talks of riot squads

See where they dumped DELILAH in the Amey Depot. Watch FILM HERE > DELILAH in Amey Depot

The national media and politician Nick Clegg rightfully slated the tactics and actions carried out on this dark day in Sheffield history.

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 Updated 16th Oct.

Please can anyone & EVERYONE share and if on Twitter, please Tweet using the hashtag #StandwithVernon Sheffield City Council & Amey PLC through the Streets Ahead project are aiming to fell this wonderful valuable Street Tree, the Vernon Oak. Even though its CAVAT value is £53,000 & SCC’s own Independant Tree Panel recommend retaining the tree.

and now Trees For Cities 

Candle lit vigil around Vernon Oak Sun. 15th Oct. 2015. Photo David Holmes

This is just one more tragic act of an local authority out of control, and out of their depth stuck in a PFI contract that they cannot or will not renegotiate. Ego’s & reputations seem more important than their resdients/voters views.

Reason(s) given are so wrong in every sense. Arboriculturally, morally and ethically. Many local residents are rightfully up in arms at this latest assault on ‘their tree’. After a week in which perhaps many trees will be felled on Rivelin Valley Road and Meersbrook Park road, again for no other reason than corporate profit, this latest sickening act will be one, like many others that the good people of Sheffield will NOT FORGET.

You decide below if this tree should be felled for ‘kerb problems’. It is one of the oldest oak street trees in Sheffield.

People from around the world have visited this tree to pay their respects. Here the Trees Party from Taiwan. Above, Roel Jacobs from Belgium, an author and world class tree photographer visits this great street tree.

(90 odd years Bill has been on the planet) He loves the tree. he understands just what it GIVES BACK to the community in the many well understood ways  we all know.

Tomorrow, Wednesday 23rd of August 2017 will begin the disgusting & devastating work of felling many hundreds of HEALTHY Sheffield Street Trees. (It may well turn out to be thousands more as time goes on!)  This work being now protected by a bad law.

But, what an absolute privilege it was to be able to attend the Sheffield Street Trees meeting last night. OVER 150 folks crammed into the Banner Cross pub upstairs room. Passionate, sensible, reasoned and even joking amongst all the recent bad news and bad decisions & bad laws. 

Paul Brooke explained magnificently the situation we face. The chair (sorry I did not get his name) was brilliant too. Many folks expressed so many useful and sensible ideas. Alison Teal, Calvin Payne and Dave Dillner the ‘Tree Defenders’ were in attendance. Words cannot express the many folks gratitude to you all.

We will not lose this. After seeing  hearing these folks once again I know the war will be won in the end and that Sheffield City Council & Amey / Ferrovial (Spain) will be tarnished forever as vandals of the natural environment. The last pic shows how 'Delilah' on Rustlings road has been 'replaced'!!! 

Evil, evil, stupid, money focussed people / corporations will not beat us...  #Time4BIGChange #SaveSheffTrees 

Capel y Ffin Yew trees - Nominated by John Burton

Nominator Cheryl Pugh

Cheryl with Buddy and the Mellington Lodge Oak June 2011.

When we moved into  No. 1 Mellington Lodge in 1997, we undertook a big task to make the top patch of an overgrown garden that went with our home into a space for our three boys to play. The oak tree itself spread all across the garden. We put a rope ladder in the oak tree for our boys to climb, which I think is still there to this day. Mrs Evans, who owned the property, would often call in and talk about trees and nature in general. I told her about seeing the badgers playing on Offa’s Dyke Monument of an evening as it was getting dusk.

Hundreds of people walked through the gates every year - on the Offa’s Dyke Path -  often stopping to talk and refill their water bottles. People came from all over the world. Some were just doing short walks; others were walking many miles in one day to try to complete the Dyke Path walk from one end to the other.

The most amazing sight was on opening the door early one morning and seeing army soldiers marching through the gates! It was such a wonderful sight to see, and I now wish I’d gotten my camera out.

The oak tree must have been planted there many years before the gatehouse was even built in the late 1800′s and that in itself is a beautiful thought.

I’m not sure exactly how old the tree is, maybe it’s over 350/400 years old?

The tree is recorded on the Ancient tree Inventory Tree No. 85711  and is 5.44-metres in girth