Janet Prior reports on a new old find for the reserve…
If you go down to the woods today you’re sure of a big surprise. If you go down to the woods today you’ll never believe your eyes! This was the situation for the mid-week volunteers who ventured into the woods to erect protective stock fencing in the east scrub area of the nature reserve during January.
Their big surprise was to find two very old and gloomy looking Apple Trees. The age of the trees is currently uncertain but the cankers and gnarly bark suggest that they have been slowly drifting into old age, unseen for many years.
Although the trees were nick-named ‘The Gloomy Trees’, the effect on the volunteers was far from gloomy. Everyone looked on them with amazement and felt uplifted having discovered these awesome veterans.
One of the trees looks quite unhealthy as it has shed its lower limbs. However, this phenomenon, known as ‘Summer branch drop’, and is associated with weather patterns is what trees do naturally in order to prolong their life. Hopefully it’s not too late for this tree and we can look after and enjoy them both for many more years.
Photos of The Gloomy Trees kindly provided by Matt Hall
