Old chestnuts?

There is an article in the autumn, 2014, magazine of the National Trust, surely an authoritative body on this subject, about this very subject, by their expert on this subject, Brian Muelaner.

He states: “There is no formal recognition for old trees – no listing status, no plaques and no guarantee of their protection. ‘Ancient woodland’ is defined as an area of land where there has been a continuous cover of trees since 1600, but more often than not, the trees growing there aren’t of any significant age at all. In fact, historically, the trees in ancient woodland are likely to have been grown and felled for their timber, so there are rarely big concentrations of ancient trees.”

Colin Maroney

Highfield Gardens

Rustington

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