21 Members & 2 Guests present. Apologies received – Maureen Snow, Claire Clyde-Watson & Mary Curtis.
Chairman Norman Clyde-Watson welcomed members to the meeting -
Notices
- Green Pennant Award – The “Ridge” had been judged for the Green Pennant Award on May 14th. The judging had been very searching & lengthy. The outcome will be known in July.
- Monday 4th June – The Friends will be helping a local group hold a celebratory picnic on the Ridge Play Area & will also show the work done on the Ridge with a display of photographs.
- Walking Festival – As part of the Broxtowe ‘Walking Festival’, John & Norman will be conducting Walks around the Ridge on Sunday 10th June – starting at the top of Sandy Lane at 10:30am. All will be welcome.
Norman introduced Dr Graham Piearce who gave a very interesting illustrated talk on
‘The Trees of Wollaton, Wollaton Park & Bramcote’**
Using old photographs, Graham was able to show how trees planted before road development, still existed & pointed out their ages & characteristics. There were too many facts to list them all but here are a select few:-
Silver Birch are often used along roads but are in fact woodland species, not really appropriate on roadsides. They are not particularly long lived having a life-span of only around 60 years.
Oak, Beech & Lime are good for Deer Parks – eg. In Wollaton Park, many were planted in the 1700’s but some have been replaced with hybrids. Beech trees tend to collapse without warning after about 200+ years – hence the reason some are fenced around to protect the public! Some of the Oak hybrids can be dated back to 1500 so were growing before the Hall was built!
Sweet Chestnut was introduced by the Romans around 2000 years ago who used the nuts to make flour & bread.
Worth looking for in Wollaton Park – Turkish Hazel, near Mr Manns. Wellingtonia , tallest tree in the Park & about 150 years old & surrounded by Horse Chestnut. Cedars which were planted around 1820. The Handkerchief tree which is behind the Hall. Acer Henrii, a Maple which is the rarest tree in the Park.
Along Wollaton Vale roadside are numerous Plane trees which are valuable for the area & the environment. There are also Wild Cherry with small white flowers together with Crab Apples, Hawthorne & Rowan. Graham pointed out his dislike of the overuse of the double-flowering Khazan Cherry along the Vale as they are shortlived & could leave a problem of replacement when they need to be removed.
Overall a truly informative talk which Norman thanked Graham for on behalf of the Friends.
The meeting closed at 9:30pm.
The Friends are always looking for extra pairs of hands to help out or to simply support their work, so...
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