A remarkable tree day
Clive Humphreys
Clive describes a meeting of remarkable people to see remarkable trees.
As part of our Ancient Tree Hunt project we asked Ian Retson our local verifier to explain to a group of our volunteers the process for determining whether old remarkable trees are classified as Ancient, Veteran or Notable.
Here we all are, a group of 17 – photographer included - all very enthusiastic volunteers, with Ian Retson (seated in the middle on the steps) on Saturday 17 October 2026 in East Carlton Country Park. Ian is a local verifier for the Ancient Tree Inventory (ATI) – the national online database of the country’s oldest trees - and is himself a volunteer for the Woodland Trust, the organisation that supports the ATI.
Ian had come on the invitation of Rockingham Forest Vision to talk to us about the work of the ATI and give some insight on the identification and recording of ‘older’ trees - Ancient, Veteran or Notable. Our task will be to find them, record their position on the online map and log the relevant details and pictures as evidence on the database. Then Ian and other verifiers can check our findings and decide, using the evidence we have provided, whether the tree should be classed as Ancient, Veteran or Notable.
The aim is to collate a complete and up-to-date national record of our oldest trees. The age of our national tree stock gives us and future generations an awareness to the overall status of our woodlands and forests. Seed collection and seedling regeneration from our national stock allows us to study the DNA and resilience of our trees, gives us an appreciation of how best to protect what we have and where we can do more to improve our woodlands against disease, human destruction and climate change.
However, the first problem seems to be identification, not just of species but of the age of the tree. Species is relatively easy – apps on smart phones make identification quite straightforward, especially in the summer when the tree is in full leaf.
But identifying age seems to be a little more subjective. There are some obvious signs like “retrenchment” and girth. Mature trees naturally retrench – the crown very gradually dies back, often over decades, forming a smaller and lower secondary crown.
The measurement of a tree’s girth (the circumference of the trunk) depends heavily on the species, for example, you’d expect an ancient oak to be 6 metres or more round, whereas hawthorns achieve ancient status when their girth reaches about 1.5metres. However, how ‘fat’ a tree gets depends also on where it is growing, the amount of water available, the amount of sunlight, exposure to weather extremes, and soil affects.
As well as these pretty obvious signs of age there are more subtle signs to look for – how the tree has been altered over its life by accident, either natural or manmade, and also by its habitation with or attack by other species - birds, mammals, insects and, its symbiotic companion, fungi.
All these signs can be indicators of whether a tree is ancient or veteran, rather than simply a notable tree.
But back to the remarkable tree day! I never intend to write a textbook on trees but the tangents are endlessly fascinating, so excuse me for the occasional wander. Right. I am back on track, on with our day....
Fuelled by tea, coffee, chocolate biscuits and insight from Ian’s presentation we set out together to find age indicators on the trees around us in the park.
This oak was our first joint sighting. Unfortunately because of the light, the photo has broken one of Ian’s cardinal rules – no silhouettes when recording the tree.
However, we thought this one tree covered pretty much everything he had shown us. It had under 50% of the original tree left alive and in leaf. It had a girth of over 5 metres which, very nearly, according to the girth charts, makes it Ancient. It certainly shows retrenchment and limb loss.
There was decay of the heart wood and a bees nest in one of the holes – so insect activity. There was fungal growth – wonderful clumps of ‘Chicken of the Woods’ growing on it, although one had fallen off. There were also areas where the bark and cambium layer had curved around where limbs had broken off to heal the wound (sometimes called occludation or woundwood).
So was it Ancient or Veteran? Ian explained that in his view this tree is right on the dividing line. It's currently shown as Veteran on the ATI - but maybe soon it should be reclassified.
Excellent – so we moved on. Next Ian led us to a magnificent lime which has been classified as Ancient on the ATI.
Once again this displayed all the features we were looking for, although this one had been cut down for Health and Safety reasons, it being too near a public path. But the surviving trunks were still determined to put out foliage.
The features of an Ancient tree were all there again -- a huge girth of 6.6 metres, woundwood, insect activity, broken limbs, and a hollow trunk.
The signs were all there right in front of us – all the indicators of what must have been a magnificent ancient lime before it had been cut down.
We had learnt something this day – with proper guidance and support, and by looking rather than just glancing, we too could be part of the invaluable work based on the Ancient Tree Inventory. Their team of verifiers along with dedicated volunteers can identify and then help to preserve our native woodland trees and we can be part of this national team, hoping to conserve our unique forest heritage and all the species that connect to it.
Remarkable people with remarkable trees.
