The UK's living history surrounds us!
I love going out in our great country to historic buildings, houses and cathedrals. While I am there I wander around and feel myself absorbed in the history and events of the past. To be honest you don’t always need a building to appreciate history or things from the past.
Our local parks, houses and open spaces are full of trees most of which have been growing in their locations far longer than you or any of your family members have. I always carry a guide on my phone that gives a really approximate guide as to how old some trees are.
For example:
| QUERCUS (OAK) | |
| GIRTH | AGE IN YEARS |
| 2m | 80 |
| 4m | 200 |
| 6m | 400 |
| 8m | 800 |
| 10m | 1000 |
| TAXUS (YEW) | |
| GIRTH | AGE IN YEARS |
| 1m | 100 |
| 3m | 300 |
| 4m | 500 |
| 6m | 800 |
| 10m | 2000 |
If you really think about it every ancient or even old tree has been witness to some amazing developments. Some of these trees have met famous people or borne witness to some pretty spectacular historic events.
Trees clean our air, bind the soil beneath our feet and provide us with the building materials for our towns and houses. They provide home to so much wild life whether it lives in the branches, within the trunk or beneath the canopy.
So next time you are out in an open space give a thought to the trees around you that form the landscape and their importance to remain. Think to what these trees have seen, the history, the changes in the environment, the invention of the car, the creation of roads and infrastructure to name a few.
Great places to view these trees are Historic Royal Palaces, Royal Parks and The National Trust.
A few of my pictures from my album:
